Ava Sharpe, The Real Woman
by Lady Xana
Summary: This is set after Episode 16 from Season 3, so beware of !SPOILERS! if you haven't watched it yet! This is my personal take on how Ava must had been feeling inside after she has time to really process what she found out about herself.
1. Lash Out

**AVA SHARPE, AFTER FINDING OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT HERSELF**

_So this is it ahm? I can't believe Rip Hunter would hide something so big from me. I had the right to know that after all these years I'm not the person whom I thought I was. I'm not the little child who cried in the middle of the mall once because she got lost from her mom while they were shopping for Christmas presents. I'm not the teenager who celebrated her fifteenth birthday by going paintballing with her friends and ended up using a boy as a human shield._

_I didn't have my first kiss with Sharon behind the school bleachers which would made me truly realize for the first time that I actually loved girls instead of boys._

_All these memories and many more were all lies, fabricated to make me believe that I was an actual human being and not simply one in many of a clone line manufactured at a laboratory from the future._

_I'm not even made of flesh and bones. I don't have a heart, I don't have a stomach, I don't even have a brain. I'm made of circuits, cables and connections. I have a computer chip inside of me._

_All I have ever felt in my life up until this point is fake._

At this point Ava could feel hot tears running down her cheeks and tried to desperately wipe them away furiously.

_Argh! How is this even possible?! Shouldn't this cause a short-circuit or something?_

She suddenly hears the sound of a portal open behind her.

"Ava?"

Her gentle voice pulls her from her thoughts. Sara's. She steps into the Agent's living room and gets closer to the taller woman.

Ava doesn't turn around to face her, she doesn't want to let her girlfriend see her in such state. _**Girlfriend**__. _That word doesn't sound good anymore, it's as if tainted.

"Are you okay?" Sara asks, resting her left hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to face her slowly.

Ava eventually concedes and looks Sara in the eyes, she tries to plaster a small smile on her face but fails miserably at it. As soon as her girlfriend sees her in tears she cups the back of her head gently and places it on her shoulder, putting her strong arms around her and embracing her figure.

"It's okay baby, I'm right here." Sara whispers, holding her tightly and tracing small circles on her back to soothe her.

Ava holds on to her like her life depends on it, in that moment all that matters is that she is in her lover's arms. Nothing else matters, the cruelness of her recent reality is suddenly miles away.

After a couple of minutes they move to sit on the Agent's couch facing each other. Sara holds Ava's hands on her lap and reaches out her right hand to tuck a strand of hair that's covering the blonde's beautiful face. She takes the chance to wipe away a single tear that was threatening to escape through her girlfriend's face.

"There, much better." She smiles gently at her, "Now, do you maybe wanna tell me why I came here to find you crying?"

Ava scoffs, "I don't know, you tell me. Why did you come here?" She says, smiling a bit.

Sara gives her a sideways smirk, "Hm… I'm glad to know your sense of humour is coming back. But seriously Aves, why were you crying? You know you can tell me if something bad happened."

The taller woman sighs, "I know… I just… I have discovered that I am a clone Sara. Isn't that reason enough?"

Now Sara is the one sighing, "This again? Ava I already told you, I love you and nothing is ever going to change that. The fact that you are a clone doesn't make any less of the person I fell in love with. You are Ava Sharpe, the most badass, sexy, strong and powerful Agent the Time Bureau has ever had the luck to have!"

Sara's words made sense, she wanted to believe them so badly, but right now she just couldn't find it in herself to do so. She shook her head, "That's a bunch of bullshit and you know it Sara."

The freckled woman looked at her with a hurt expression covering her face.

Ava swallowed hard at the sight. She let go of Sara's hands and stood up, once again turning her back on her, "You have no idea what it is. What it feels like to find out that all your precious memories were never true. That all your happy moments and heartbreaks were never real. They never happened. I am not real Sara!"

She turned to face the other woman, "What good does being with a _**thing **_like me will do to you? You're better off with someone else. Someone real."

Sara stands up and asks with a low but firm voice, "Is that what you want?"

"I – ", Ava struggles to finish the sentence. She sighs deeply.

"I'm being pretty straight forward here Ava. If this is just gonna end up with you breaking up with me, then might as well do it sooner than later. Don't leave me hanging." Sara tried to put on a brave façade but Ava knows that deep inside the Captain is scared. She can see it in her piercing blue eyes and in the way her chest trembles with very breath she takes. She decides to act quickly.

"No!" The Agent almost shouts out of fear, getting closer to Sara. She rests her hands on both the woman's shoulders, appreciating the freckles that kisses her girlfriend's skin. She gets the urge to kiss each one of them, to show Sara how much she loves her. She suddenly feels a sense of guilt washing over her; how could she make Sara think that she would ever want to break up with her.

"I'm sorry Sara. I didn't want to make you feel like I could ever break up things between us. What we have is special, more than special actually, it's the only thing in my life right now that feels real. All my past memories and my sense of being, that has gotten pretty much shaken up; but what you and I shared, our first fight on the Waverider, our first kiss…" She stops, cupping Sara's cheeks and kissing her lips softly. "The first time we made love. Everything with you has been amazing, and I hope it continues that way for a very long time."

Sara smiles brightly, leaping into her arms and plants a big kiss on Ava's lips, throwing the taller woman off balance which makes them both fall onto the couch with Sara on top of Ava.

"What do you say we create another great memory between us? Like, right now." The smaller Captain says wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh yeah? I would like that…" She says, "…very…" Punctuating every word, "…much." Within each kiss.


	2. Love

Sara's lying on the bed next to Ava, tracing the lines on her girlfriend's palm with her fingertips.

"I love your hands." She states looking up at the other woman's green eyes, "They are so soft and beautiful."

"And I love you." Ava says kissing Sara's lips. The Captain smiles into the kiss, "Pfft, so cheesy."

The Agent shoves her shoulder playfully, "You love my cheesiness Lance."

Sara scoffs, feigning annoyance, "Miss Sharpe, did you just pushed me?"

The taller woman shrugs her shoulders, "I guess I did. What are you gonna do about it?"

Her girlfriend smirks, "I guess I will have to punish you then."

She slides from under the sheet that's covering her body and moves to straddle Ava's hips, one leg on each side.

Ava's mouth falls slightly open and her breath hitches, consequences of appreciating the smaller woman's naked frame.

"See something you like?" Sara whispers, moving some hair aside from the Agent's flushed face, caressing her left cheek with her right hand. Ava smiles warmly at her, resting her hand on top of Sara's.

Instead of answering right away, she decides to show it instead. She sits up, embracing her girlfriend's waist with her hands to hold her in place. She moves forward and kisses her soft lips, asking for entrance by tracing her bottom lip with her tongue. The other woman grants it gladly, crossing her arms behind Ava's neck to pull her impossibly closer. Their mouths and tongues work together to find a rhythm between them.

The Agent can't help but moan at the sweet warmth that settles in her lower belly. She aches for more.

Her hands move to cup Sara's soft breasts, enticing a husky moan from the woman's mouth. She feels her start to rub against her leg, trying to gain some friction.

Ava shifts her own leg a bit to help her, and can't resist to bite her left nipple gently and licking it right after to soothe the bite.

"Ava…" Sara pleads, panting lightly, "I need you baby, please."

The Agent nods, threading her left hand through Sara's hair to incline her head to the side, getting better access to her neck. She sucks on it, enjoying the feeling of her girlfriend's accelerated pulse; she stops and caresses the spot with her tongue, trying to ease the bruise that's threatening to form there. She leaves a trail of wet kisses from her neck down to her shoulder blades, taking the time to kiss each shoulder gently. She moves her head away a bit to look at her lover's face. Her cheeks are a shade of deep red that turn her beautiful tiny freckles even more noticeable; her usually crystal eyes are a shape of dark blue, filled with lust and desire. Ava moves forward again, grabbing Sara's bottom lip between her teeth. She releases it and soothes the area with her tongue, and Sara takes the chance to catch her full lips in hers, parting them with her tongue. Ava melts at the feeling and gets distracted for a couple of seconds, but a whimper coming from her lover's mouth wakes her up again. She lets her right hand wander south, caressing Sara's perfectly defined abs and then she moves a bit more down, stopping just above her clit.

She feels her girlfriend shudder at the mercy of her touch, "Ava, please don't be a tease. You're killin-". The woman gets cut short when Ava's index finger moves between her folds, entering her.

"Hm… You're so wet honey. Is this all for me?" The Agent asks in a low and husky tone, sending shivers down Sara's spine. She swallows hard and nods.

Ava decides to add a second finger inside her, and starts to move slowly. Sara begins to rock her hips, trying to keep up a rhythm with her. The Agent places her thumb on her lover's clit, tracing small circles, which earns her a guttural moan from Sara. She smirks at the state that she's leaving the other woman in. She takes her fingers out, earning a growl from her girlfriend. Sara bites her playfully on the shoulder, and Ava places her fingers inside of her again, adding a third one.

Sara's breath hitches and her back arches, which makes her dig her nails into Ava's back.

"Better, Miss Lance?" The Agent asks mischievously.

Sara chuckles and places her head on Ava's shoulder, attaching her lips to the woman's neck. She bites down hard on her soft skin, her girlfriend should know by now that playing with Sara is the same as playing with fire. Ava knows it very well though, she just doesn't care.

The Captain moves her hands to her lover's breasts, smiling at the feeling of hard nipples under her palms. She twists them between her fingers, biting her bottom lip to supress her laughter after hearing a "_**fuck**_" coming out from Ava's mouth.

"Agent Sharpe, are you swearing?"

"You seem to have that effect on me Captain Lance." She smirks, fastening the pace of her fingers.

Sara starts moaning, rocking her hips to help Ava reach that sweet spot inside of her.

When Ava feels her lover's walls clench around her fingers, she starts to curve them. The woman on top of her reaches climax after a couple of minutes, coming strongly against her hand. A series of swear words leaves her mouth, her chest rising and falling rapidly with each spasm of pleasure she gets.

Ava leaves a trail of butterfly kisses on her freckled and sweat covered skin, from her forehead to the spot right above her heart. She slowly retreats her fingers from inside the other woman, reaching behind her head to pull her head back gently so she can look directly at her lust filled eyes.

She then licks her fingers clean, one by one, smirking afterwards, "Hm… Sweet as honey, as always."

Sara grins widely and reaches for her shoulders, pressing her down on the bed gently.

"I believe it's your turn now." She states, kissing her deeply on the lips.

The Captain ends up sleeping at Ava's house after they tire themselves to exhaustion making love. She took the chance seeing as there didn't seem to be any new anachronisms for the Legends to deal with that day.

* * *

**NEXT MORNING – 9 AM**

Sara and Ava were lying in bed, both fully awake already but neither seemed to want to move away from each other.

"As much as I'm loving this, Miss Sharpe, don't you have some reports to review at the Time Bureau or some other bureaucratic stuff?"

Ava grins at her, "Nope! I have taken the day off to spend time with my amazingly hot girlfriend." She states, squeezing Sara's ass playfully.

The other woman squealed, being caught by surprise, "You didn't even know that I was gonna show up at your house last night, much less stay for the night."

"Fine. I had already taken the day off, to get my head around some things. The fact that you showed up out of nowhere just added more greatness to it."

"And I thought I was the smooth one."

Both women share a laugh at that remark.

"So, since you don't have to get ready and all buttoned up to leave for work, what do you feel like doing today?"

"Hm… Does staying in bed having steamy, hot and mind blowing sex with my out of this world of a girlfriend count?"

"Let's go with yes." Sara whispers, kissing her on the lips.

Ava leans into it but stops it short, "Wait. We should get some breakfast first. My stomach making weird noises is definitely not a sexy thing."

"Hard to believe baby, everything about you is sexy." Sara smirks, pulling her girlfriend closer by the waist.

"That's very flattering, but trust me on this. It's like I suddenly have a pre-historic being living inside of me."

Sara pouts when Ava gets away from her, "Come on! Let's get up and do some cooking." She says, leaving the room without waiting for the other woman.

When she comes back she's wearing an apron with the Time Bureau Agency's logo on it.

Sara starts chuckling, "I didn't know one of your tasks at the Agency was cooking. I should stop by more often."

Ava narrows her eyes at her, "Ah ah! Very funny." She says with sarcasm, "If you must know, it was a gift from Gary. He knows how much I love cooking, so why not put together two of my passions?"

"One of the things I admire most about you, the love you have for your job. Not many people can say that about what they do."

"Sara, you know it's more than a simple job to me. The Time Bureau is a part of me, I've worked so hard to get where I am today." She says proudly.

The Captain gets up from the bed and goes to stand in front of Ava, "I know that very well, Director Sharpe." She places both hands around Ava's waist and kisses her deeply. They part for hair and Sara takes the chance to ask, "So… Is there any chance you might wear this apron with nothing under it?"

Ava laughs and shakes her head, "Oh my god, you are impossible. I could, but that wouldn't be very hygienic."

Sara shrugs, "I don't mind."

"Forget it Lance, not gonna happen." She raises the spatula in her right hand, "Now, do you want waffles or pancakes?"

After cooking and enjoying a sweet and much needed breakfast, they ended up in bed again.

They were now resting and appreciating the company of one another, watching a rerun of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

"Sara?" Ava asks, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between the two women.

Sara hums in response, turning her head to look up at her girlfriend.

"I was thinking of going back to 2213." She bites her lip nervously, already guessing Sara's reaction.

The Captain's stunning face turns into a deep frown, "What? Why?!"

Ava sighs and grabs the remote to mute the sound on the TV. She turns to look her girlfriend in the eyes, "I need…" She takes a deep breath and takes Sara's hands, holding them, "I need to know more about my story. I need to know how it all started, I just need some kind of answer." She swallows, trying to ease her anxiety waiting for a response from the woman in front of her. She tries to find it in her crystal blue eyes, but can't decipher anything.

Sara seems to be deep in thought, but eventually squeezes her hands and speaks, "Okay."

"Really?!" Ava asks with a huge smile that reaches her eyes.

The Captain holds her right hand up, "I'm not finished."

Her girlfriend stops smiling and listens attentively, "I want you to know that I think that this is a terrible idea, but, if it's that important to you…"

Ava nods, encouraging her to procced.

"Then I fully support you. In fact, I will even go back there with you."

The taller woman's heart melts at her lover's words, "You would do that for me?"

Sara cups her face with both hands, tracing her perfect cheekbones with her thumbs, "Of course! I would do anything for you. I love you Ava."

Ava's big smile is back on her lips, "I love you too Sara. Thank you."


	3. La Prise de la Bastille

**AT THE TIME BUREAU AGENCY**

Ava is going over some reports in her office when she hears someone knocking at the door.

"Yes Gary?" She asks without lifting her eyes from the desk, "Did the Legends manage to screw up something again?"

"Why Miss Sharpe, hearing you talk like that about my team almost breaks my poor little heart." A sultry voice states.

Ava immediately looks up to its owner, a shiver running through her spine when her eyes land on her girlfriend's bright grin.

"Sara! What are you doing here?" She asks raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

The Captain gets closer to her, "What? Can't I just visit my girlfriend while she's at work? I mean, you do it all the time." She answers, shrugging her shoulders.

The Agent leans back on her chair, hands folded on her lap, "Yes of course, you're always welcome here." Ava smiles softly at her, reaching her hand out to grab her girlfriend's wrist. She takes a quick glance at the office's door, "In fact, could you do me a favour? Lock the door please."

Sara smirks at her and turns around to do so, "My pleasure." When she's sure that no one will be able to come in, she makes her way over to Ava's desk, sitting on the edge of it.

"So…" She crosses one leg over the other, leaning down to stay mere inches away from her girlfriend's lips, "Are you too busy right now?"

The Agent smiles, dropping the tone of her voice, "For you? Never." She tilts her head slightly to the side and captures Sara's lips in a slow, gentle kiss, taking her time to appreciate the butterflies that settle in her stomach. They part ways only to catch their breaths, resting their foreheads together, "You're amazing." Ava says looking at Sara with bright green eyes and a warm smile. The Captain gets lost in her lover's gaze; she feels the urge to reach out her right hand and cups her cheek, tracing the blonde's full bottom lip with her thumb.

"And you are the most beautiful woman I've ever been with, inside and out." Sara confesses, earning a kiss from Ava. The taller woman moves her chair back a bit, motioning for her girlfriend to sit on her lap, "Come on, I swear this spot is pretty comfy."

Sara laughs, "Oh I know how comfortable your whole body can be, don't worry." She says, moving to sit on Ava's lap. She rests her hands behind the Agent's neck, playing with the baby hairs there. She goes to loosen up the blonde's bun but Ava stops her, "Sara, I love the feeling of your fingers through my loose hair, but don't forget that I'm at work. I need to be presentable."

"You're right, sorry. Force of habit." Sara says, resting her head on the crook of Ava's neck, planting a wet kiss there. The taller woman envelopes her girlfriend in a tight hug, moving her right hand up and down Sara's back, while her other hand wraps around her waist.

They stay like that for a couple of minutes until Ava breaks the silence, "As much as I love being like this with you, is there any particular reason why you've come here?"

Sara shakes her head, "Not really, just wanted to cuddle." She says, looking up at Ava.

The Agent searches Sara's bright blue eyes, trying to figure something out in them.

"Are you sure? You look a bit tired." Ava asks, tucking a lock of hair behind a freckled and pierced ear.

"Yeah… I had a few nightmares that's all." Sara cups her girlfriend's face and caresses it.

Ava debates internally whether to press the matter, but ends up deciding to, "Do you want to tell me what they were about?"

The Captain gulps slightly, "Same old… Damien Darhk, Laurel, Nanda Parbat. You know, the whole shenanigans."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you honey." The taller woman says, "I've been meaning to ask…"

Ava is interrupted by a knock on the door. She sighs a bit irritated, "Yes?!"

"Director Sharpe, sorry to bother you but your assistance is needed with some matters at the moment." She hears Gary say on the other side.

"Okay Gary, I'll be right there. Just give me a minute!"

She turns to Sara, "I'm sorry Sara, I have to go."

The smaller woman gets up and gives her a small smile, "That's alright. I should go back too, see if the Legends managed to keep everything in place while I was gone."

"Ok, but we'll talk later yes? Dinner at my place, sound good?" She asks, resting her hands on the Captain's shoulders.

Sara gives her a goodbye kiss, "Sounds perfect. Later." She says, winking and opening a portal to the Waverider.

* * *

**BACK AT THE WAVERIDER**

When Sara reaches the Bridge, she sees the whole team is reunited discussing something.

"Listen, I personally think this is the best approach to these kind of situations." Nate says exasperatedly, losing his patience.

"And I think we should wait for the Captain to return so we can hear what she has to say." Ray objects.

Sara steps in, "Ok guys I'm back! What did I miss?" She asks looking around at each member of the team.

"Welcome back Captain Lance! I found a Level 4 anachronism in France, 14th of July in 1789."

"Also known as, _Storming of the Bastille_!" Nate exclaims excitedly.

"Except that according to the files Gideon gathered, the event never took place, meaning that the French Revolution never happened causing huge consequences on what we know today as the country France." Ray added.

"And that's because two days before that, in the 12th of July, Camille Desmoulins, the journalist/politician responsible for giving a speech in front of the Royal Palace about how the Royal troops were about to release a bloody repression on the people of Paris, ended up not being able to give said speech. He was supposed to inflame the passions of the mob by his burning words and his call _"To arms!"_, but that never happened. Therefore, Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops never stormed and dismantled the Bastille, leaving it intact." Nate finished.

"Okay! Gideon set the course to July 12th 1789, Paris, France. We go there, find out what stopped Camille from giving his speech, make sure he gives it properly and then we're out!"

The team looks at her quiet. Nate is the one breaking the silence, "I still think we should also make sure that the people get to the guns and powder so they can defend themselves when taking the prison fortress."

Sara nods, "Alright! Ray, Mick and Amaya go help the people. Zari, Nate and I go look for the journalist and convince him to give the speech."

They all agree and go to the Waverider's Fabrication room to get their costumes accordingly to the era. After they get dressed, the Captain gives the command to leave the ship as soon as they land in a secluded area just on the outskirts of the city.

* * *

**PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 12****TH**** 1789**

After the invisibility shield is up, they step outside and breathe in the fresh air surrounding them.

"Amazing!" Amaya states with a smile, "It always feels great to get some air."

Nate smiles at seeing her look happy, but tries not to stare too much. Mick clears his throat and he snaps out of it.

"Okay people, you all know the plan! Let's try to be quick but effective about this yes? I don't want a certain Time Bureau Director on our asses because of our screwing up."

"Hm… And here I thought that was supposed to be a good thing now." Nate whispers sideways at Mick, making him chuckle.

Sara narrows her piercing blue eyes, challenging her teammates, "What was that?"

"Nothing." Both men say in unison.

"Good." She smiles smugly, "As I was saying, don't screw up and we can all go back to the ship sooner. Let's go!"

Nate and Zari follow Sara to the Royal Palace to look for the journalist while the rest of the team go the other way.

"Ok where the hell is Camille? He should be starting his speech around now." The Captain says, looking around.

"I can't seem to spot Mr. Desmoulins anywhere." Nate adds, "He should definitely be here by now, something must have happened to him."

"Guys, the journalist is not here." Zari says through the intercom, informing the other team.

Amaya is the one to answer her, "Well we're already at the site. Mick and Ray are just finishing helping people gather what we had agreed on."

"What does the French dude look like?" Mick asks.

"Caucasian, long nose, black hair by the shoulders and fancy clothing." Nate replies.

"So basically every French men in the city." Ray deadpans.

"We're screwed. We're never going to find him." Zari sighs.

"Calm down guys! I'm sure we'll figure something out." Sara says trying to lift their spirits and at the same time trying to convince herself as well.

"Sara is right. Nate can't you think of something he may have that might differentiate him from others?"

The man ponders in thought for a while, sporting a huge grin on his face when he remembers an old portrait he has seen once on an old book called Well Known French Figures of the Revolution. He presses his intercom, "I got it! He's probably wearing a white scarf tied like a long bow around his neck. He might also be wearing a black hat with mistletoe trapped on its side and a long coat."

"Ahm guys…" Zari says, grabbing Sara's arm to get her attention and points with her head to the man across the street, "That guy sure does look a lot like what you just described."

"Ah great you found him! Problem solved." Ray says cheerfully over the intercom.

"Not so much…" Sara adds, "He's throwing up in the alley. Oh god, that's a lot of vomit."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Nate says, covering his mouth with his hand.

"What's going on over there?" Amaya asks, "Do you need help?"

"Not precisely. But our French friend might need a hand or two." Zari states, making a disgusted face.

"He apparently drank the whole set of drinks the bar had to offer." Sara mocks.

"Ah!" Mick lets out excitedly, "My kind of man!"

Amaya and Ray sigh, "Alright, we're coming over."

After about ten minutes the six of them are all together again.

"Glad you're finally here. You can help us wake him up." Sara says with a smirk, making her way over to the man lying on the floor, followed by Zari.

Amaya and Ray look over at Nate waiting for an explanation. Mick chimes in, "Let me guess. He passed out right after you ended the call with us?"

Nate points at him, "Bingo!" He claps his hands together, "Come on, let's go."

When they approach the rest of the team, they notice the man is now slightly awake and their Captain is already speaking with him.

"_Monsieur Desmoulins, comment allez-vous? " _Sara's glad she took an Ingestible translator to allow her to speak and understand the French language, or else she would be royally screwed. In fact, she's even more glad that she forced everyone on the team to take one magic pill of those before they left the Waverider.

"How do you know my name Mademoiselle?!" He stutters a bit, while trying to stand up. He reaches for the wall next to him, but slips and ends up sitting on the floor again.

The Captain turns to her teammates, "Help me carry him, we can't let anyone see him like this."

Mick nods and throws the man over his shoulder with a grunt, "Done. What now?"

Sara points to the back alley, "I think it's best we talk over there, it looks more secluded."

After they turn right into to the alley Mick gently lowers the journalist on the floor, as per Captain's orders.

Nate slaps him carefully on his red cheeks, trying to somehow ease the effect on the alcohol on his system, "Monsieur, please don't fall asleep."

Although he's not asleep much anymore, he does look scared to see a bunch of unfamiliar faces surrounding him.

Amaya tries a different approach, "Monsieur Desmoulins, my name is Amaya and these are my friends." She offers her right hand for him to take, "We've come a long way to meet you; we've heard many good things about your revolutionary words. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintances."

Camille Desmoulins seems to relax at hearing her kind words and accepts her hand, "The pleasure is entirely mine Mademoiselle Amaya." He kisses her hand gently earning a shy smile from her. Nate can't fight the need to roll his eyes at the whole scene. He extends his hand for the man to shake as a greeting, putting himself them both, "Nate Heywood, pleasure to meet you as well."

Camille takes his hand simply as to not seem rude, but tenses for a few seconds at the strong grip Nate gives to his hand. He nods at him and at the rest of the team.

When no one else interjects, Sara clears her throat and tries to put on her most innocent and captivating smile, "Monsieur Desmoulins, we heard some rumours that you were supposed to give a wonderful speech earlier today, but it seems that never happened. Care to tell us why?"

He starts to laugh, almost tripping and falling over again, "Well I can't possibly give a whole speech in front of thousands when I'm as drunk as if I've been drinking three barrels of whine can I?" He keeps laughing at her face.

She clenches her jaw, controlling the urge on knock him unconscious right at that instant. It wouldn't be too hard either, he's already halfway there.

"I get that." She now has a fake smile plastered on her face, "But if you had intentions to give said speech then why did you drink so much beforehand?"

"Because I fricking stutter! I've been awful at speaking ever since I was a wee child. I thought the alcohol would help with that but I got carried away."

Sara motions for the rest of the team to gather a few feet away from the journalist, "Listen guys…" She whispers, "The only way he will give this speech is if he has some extra help."

"Well we can't give the speech for him. That would be interfering a lot with History." Ray adds worried.

"I know that Ray! That's why I'm saying we help him to give said speech. Any ideas?"

"Hm… Nate, is there a chance you know how his speech goes? I don't mean the whole thing, but maybe the most important points?"

Nate stays thoughtful for a while, trying to remember the entirety of the speech. How it begins, some parts of the middle and then the famous ending. When he feels like he has it figured it out he nods and tells his teammates, "Okay! I'm sure I can help him reach the important subjects."

"Great! Then it's simple; we take him to the location where it's supposed to happen, make him look more decent and you Nate stand there next to him. When you notice that he may be losing his train of thought, you just have to intervene and tell him what he has to say."

Nate nods confidently, "Okay! Let's do this!"

When they turn to Desmoulins, thankfully he's still there, simply asleep on the floor. Mick takes the opportunity to throw him over his shoulder again and brings him to the front of the Royal Palace. They wake the man up, tell him it's speech time and that Nate is going to help him.

He seems relieved at hearing that and looks more confident than before about what he has to say. When he stands on the improvised stage and looks in front of him; and sees the big crowd of people looking back at him, expecting to hear something, his chest fills with pride and his heart with courage. The man starts to speak and his stutter seems to have momentaneously disappeared; he misses a few words but Nate steps in those moments and the message gets transmitted. In the end that's all that really counts.

When he finishes speaking, a chant can be heard throughout the whole crowd, _"To arms!"_ They yell, pumping their fists in the air.

Camille Desmoulins stands there like a child on Christmas Morning. His eyes shine brightly with excitement and a huge toothy smile can be seen on his face. He turns left to look at Nate, grabs his face with both hands and plants two kisses on each cheek of his helper's face.

"Merci beaucoup my dear friend! May we meet again one day." The man turns to the people in front of him once again and follows after them, leaving his new friend yelling behind him, "You're welcome!"

* * *

**BACK AT THE WAVERIDER**

The Legends arrive at their ship a couple of hours before dinner time. First things first, they ask Gideon to make sure that the anachronism as been solved effectively before taking care of other things. After that, some of them go grab something to eat while others go straight to their rooms to get some rest.

Sara lets them know that she will be having dinner at Ava's and that there's probably a one hundred percent chance of spending the night there, so they may only call her if there's any real emergency happening.

She wishes a good night to her friends and was supposed to go to her room to get ready to leave but Gideon makes her change her mind with an announcement.

"Captain Lance, I apologize but I forgot to let you know that Captain Rip Hunter is in the Library."

She frowns and asks the A.I., "Did something bad happen? Did he say why he's here?"

"I'm afraid not Captain, he simply arrived half and hour ago and just stayed there. I told him you were taking care of an anachronism in France and he told me he would wait for your return."

Sara nods, "Very well. I will see what he wants then. Thank you Gideon."

"You're welcome Captain Lance. Have a good night."


	4. Remarkable

**AN: Inspired by the deleted scene from 3x17 where Rip Hunter talks to Sara Lance about the Ava Clones. I changed a few things on the dialogue to adapt it into my story. If you would like to watch the deleted scene you can search on Youtube for "Legends of Tomorrow 3x17 Deleted Scene - Rip Praises Sara".**

* * *

Sara approaches Rip Hunter in the Library. He's sitting in front of her with sorrow in his eyes and a glass of half-finished scotch.

"Well look who finally decided to show up. Everything alright?"

"Ava won't talk to me. She won't even give me the chance to explain myself." He says sadly.

"I know… I guess you really screwed up this time." She crosses her arms across her chest and leans on the big wooden table behind her, "Why didn't you tell Ava the truth?! Wasn't it easier to tell her right from the very beginning that she was a clone?"

He sighs and looks up at her, taking a moment to reflect on his answer.

"You know Sara, the Ava Clones, they weren't designed to feel."

Sara frowns at that, but stays silent, encouraging him to continue.

"Not doubt, not excitement. Definitely not love." He says, stressing the last bit of information.

The Legend gulps and her heart warms up at hearing it. _**Love**_.

"That was all her." Rip proceeds, "Although, she did have someone to help her." He finishes, now looking up to meet Sara directly in the eye, "She needs you, probably more than ever."

The woman nods with a small smile, "I know that. And I also know that you should try to talk to her, again."

Rip scoffs, "She already made it perfectly clear that I'm the last person she wants to see right now."

"That might be true. But she needs answers only you can give her." Sara stands away from the table, preparing to leave the man to his thoughts, "And as her previous mentor, and _**friend**_, I think you owe her at least that." With that being said she steps outside the room, while the man pours himself another glass.

The woman was almost arriving at her bedroom when a portal opens in front of her and Ava comes out of it.

"Ava? Is everything alright?!" She asks concerned, approaching her, "I thought we were supposed to meet at your place later tonight for dinner. I was just going to shower and change my clothes before making my way over there."

The Time Agent looks a bit different from her usual professional stance, her long blonde hair is draped over her right shoulder, "We still are, don't worry." She smiles softly and kisses her girlfriend gently on the lips to reassure her, "I just need to talk to Captain Rip Hunter… I believe he is around somewhere right?"

The blonde's question leaves her surprised, but slightly relieved, "Yes! He was just at the Library, you might still catch him there."

The taller woman plants a kiss on Sara's cheek, thanks her and leaves.

When she arrives at the Library, Rip Hunter is still there and he immediately stands up when he sees her.

"Ava!" He says with surprise on his voice, "What brings you here?"

She gets closer to him, slowly, "I pondered a lot about this and decided it would be better if we spoke; rather sooner than later."

"Great!" He says with relief, getting closer to the blonde but Ava steps away. His smile falters but he tries not to show it. He clears his throat, "Ava I apologize…"

She cuts him before he has the chance to finish, "Agent Sharpe, if it's not asking for too much. And you've already apologized, I don't need it again." Ava sounds rough and cold, but deep down she's feeling bad for treating him like that. Although at the moment, it's the only way she can deal with the fact he hid the truth from her.

"Very well, Agent Sharpe." His voice trembles slightly, "I want you to know that I never intended to hurt you." He stops, searching for her eyes but the Agent has her gaze on the floor.

Rip waits a few seconds, giving her a chance to look up but she never does. He decides to continue, "When I travelled to 2213 and spent time there creating the enterprise that would come to fabricate the Ava Clones, my sole purpose was to somehow help make something truly wonderful and capable of making this World, a better one."

The woman finally looks up, sad green eyes crossing with sad blue ones, "I hoped that the Clones would be used to make people in that time happier; their lives fuller, more filled with meaning. The citizens of Earth deserved that; they deserved something that they could use to their advantage. But I realize now that I was wrong, Ava I'm so sorry…"

"_**Something **_that they could use Rip?!" Ava spats furiously, her eyes burning with fury, "I am a being, a _**human**_ being! I have feelings, emotions, thoughts!" She says, raising her voice, "How are you capable of standing right there in front of me and tell me you created _**me**_, Ava Sharpe -the woman you helped become the outstanding Time Bureau Agent she is today – as simply a way of serving others?!" Tears are now running freely through Ava's cheeks as she tries to calm herself down, she wipes them away quickly, "And you know what else?"

She gets closer to the man she once admired, mere inches away from his face, and gestures to her watery eyes, "How is it that a Clone, that a _**thing **_like myself can even cry? How do you even explain that Rip?!" Her voice fails at the end, a small sob escaping her mouth.

Rip's eyes start to mirror hers, "Because you are _**remarkable**_ Ava. You surpassed every expectation I could have ever had."

The woman sniffles, "What do you mean?"

He smiles softly, "The Clones weren't designed to feel any emotion whatsoever." He shakes his head, "All that was your doing! Feeling courage, fear, nervousness, sadness, guilt." He remembers his earlier talk with Sara, "Love." He accentuates that last word and for a small instant he believes he sees a hint of a smile on Ava's swollen lips, "You accomplished all of that by yourself. You are nothing like a machine designed by others… In fact, you are even more of a human being than most of us who call ourselves that. "

"Do you really mean it Rip?" She asks, feeling a little better, "When you say I am remarkable?"

"With all my heart Ava." He nods at her, his eyes welling up, "With all my heart."

Ava steps forward to hug him tightly, catching him by surprise. He slowly hugs her back, "Thank you." She whispers, before letting go.

She locks her gaze with his and states confidently, "I should let you know that I've decided to go back to 2213."

Rip frowns at that, "Why? There's nothing left for you there."

His answer slightly upsets her, "Because I believe I have the right to know more about my origins, about where I come from. Some people travel to another place on Earth, I travel to another place in time."

The man sighs deeply, "Ava, you might not like what you encounter. That place changed a lot since I've left it." He says raising his voice, trying to remove the idea from her head, "They no longer go by the same principles!"

"Rip, I have made my decision and I'm not going to change my mind. I ask you to please respect me on this." She says with little patience to keep hearing him.

"Suit yourself then." He says, finally giving in. He pours himself another glass of his favourite finest scotch aboard the Waverider and sits on his old armchair, "Have a great night Agent Sharpe." He lifts his glass at her and nods, before letting the sweet nectar go down his throat.

"You too." Ava nods, shortly, and leaves the room right after.

She's preparing to open a portal when she bumps into Sara again. The smaller woman greets her with a smile, "Hey! Have you finished talking to Rip?"

"Yes." Ava gives a short and somewhat cold response, "Sara, maybe it would be best if we cancelled our plans tonight. I'm just not in the mood." She sighs, avoiding her girlfriend's gaze.

"What? No, come on Ava." Sara steps closer and tucks a strand of blonde silky hair behind her lover's ear, caressing it with her thumb. The woman blushes at the gesture and a shy smile forms on her lips, leaving a smirk on the Captain's face, "However that conversation turned out, we can still have ourselves a pleasant night." She says, trying to reason with the other woman.

"Think about how wonderful it will be." She says, tilting her head to leave a trail of kisses starting from Ava's ear and down to her chin, going all the way through her jawline. The Agent instinctively rests her hands on either side of her lover's waist. Sara leans into the touch, pressing their bodies closer.

She feels the goose bumps forming on her girlfriend's skin under her lips with each kiss, "We will have amazingly wonderful sex until both our bodies can't take it anymore." That thought makes Ava's body ache with desire and she chuckles happily at Sara's words.

The smaller woman looks up at her, "I'm serious! You don't even have to go to the trouble of cooking me dinner, we can just order takeout. I just really wanna be with my girlfriend, please?" Sara asks with her best bright puppy eyes.

The Agent smiles warmly at her, "How could I ever say no to those beautiful eyes?" She leans down to kiss her, "You are amazing my love. Let me show you just how much." She winks and lets go of her girlfriend so she can open a portal to her apartment. Once it's opened, she takes Sara's hand in hers and leads them inside. When they get there she turns the lights on and tells her girlfriend to take a seat and make herself at home, "I'm just going to change into something more comfortable okay?" She says making her way to the bedroom but Sara grabs her hand, "Do you need help?" She asks, a smirk playing on her lips.

Ava raises her eyebrows and smiles back, "We'll have plenty of time for that babe. Right now I just really want to get out of these tight clothes so we can have some food together." She says kissing her girlfriend's forehead, "In fact, why don't you go ahead and order something of your liking?"

Sara traces the taller woman's hand with her thumb, "Alright. Does Chinese sound good to you?"

"It sounds perfect sweetie."

Ava leaves to her bedroom after that while Sara fast dials the number on her phone. They pick up after a couple of seconds and she makes her request.

When she ends the call the Agent is back to the living room and is wearing nothing more than a long T-Shirt with the lyrics from the song _"505" _by the Arctic Monkeys and a pair of shorts under it.

The freckled woman looks her lover from head to toe, smirking at the sight in front of her. She stands up to get closer to her, "Oh my Director Sharpe, I'm suddenly feeling extremely overdressed." She whispers in a husky tone and gets behind Ava, circling the woman's waist with her arms, holding her close, "You smell amazingly."

The taller woman snorts and gives a small laugh, "No I don't." She says, resting her hands on top of Sara's, "I had a very busy and stressful day and didn't even have the time to take a shower."

Sara shakes her head, "Doesn't matter." She states, moving her lover's long blonde hair gently to the side so she can kiss the back of her neck, "You always smell great to me."

Ava smiles shyly at the utterance of those words and a pleasant shiver goes running down her spine at the touch of her girlfriend's gentle lips on her skin, right at one of her many sensitive points.

"Sara…" She sighs, letting go of the other woman's embrace reluctantly. She turns around to look her in the eyes and cups her face with both hands. Her girlfriend waits for her to say something, but nothing comes out of her mouth.

Sara realizes Ava is fighting and inner battle with herself and decides to intervene. She takes the taller woman's hands in hers and sits down on the couch, patting the seat next to her.

The Agent sits next to her, never letting go of her hands. Sara initiates the conversation, "I can tell something is bothering you Ava, and I'm pretty sure it's about the talk you had with Rip earlier."

Ava sighs and looks sadly at her, "It is." She confesses, turning her gaze down.

Sara gets closer to her and holds her chin softly with her right hand, turning her lover's face up again to look at the beautiful green eyes she has come to love so much, "Then tell me how it went. You know I'm always here for you." She plants a soft kiss on her forehead to reassure her.

"I know." The Agent takes a deep breath before speaking, "He told some things about myself that I wasn't expecting, like how remarkable I am. It actually made me happy to hear it from him."

Her girlfriend smiles proudly at her, "That's great babe!" She exclaims, brushing some blonde hair aside from the woman's face, "But there's more to it, isn't it? Or else you wouldn't be feeling like this." She asks, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, I told him about getting back to 2213 and he tried to persuade me out of it. Started telling me that it would be a bad idea and that I might not like what I find there."

"Well he's partially right." Sara admits, leaving a frown on Ava's face.

"How can you say that Sara?! You know how important this is to me!" Ava says, raising her voice and standing up.

Sara gets up after her and grabs her hand, "Calm down Ava…"

The taller woman takes her hand away from her, "Calm down?! I thought you were on my side."

"And I am! But I also understand what Rip meant; he's just worried about you. You don't know what you're gonna find once you start digging for the truth. You could discover some things you may not like about that place."

Ava seems to calm down a bit, pondering about what her girlfriend is saying. Sara notices this and takes the chance to grab her hands once more. When Ava doesn't move away from her, she sits down on the couch again and brings her girlfriend down with her.

The taller woman rests her head on Sara's shoulder, sighing softly, "I understand your worries, but I need to feel like you're with me on this Sara. You told me you would go back there with me."

The Legend strokes the top of her lover's head softly, running her fingers through her hair, "And I meant it. I will be by your side every step of the way, and in my opinion that implies making sure that your eyes are wide open throughout the whole process."

Ava turns her head up to look at Sara's worried eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

Her girlfriend closes her eyes and sighs. When she opens them again, bright green eyes are looking expectantly at her, "I worry that you might lose track of who you are. I'm afraid that the Ava I love will be lost because of all the new information about her past. I mean, just think about how you felt when you discovered about being a Clone. Your instinct was immediately feel like you were a fraud, like you weren't worthy of being treated as a human being."

"That's not going to happen this time Sara."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

Ava holds Sara's face in her hands and leans in for a soft kiss on her lips, "Because I will have you by my side, reminding me that what I accomplished until now has been real and precious.", she states, after they part for air.

Sara's not very convinced about it, but still she decides not to press the subject more.

"Alright… But promise me one thing; if we feel like it's getting too much for us to handle, we will get out of 2213 immediately."

"I promise!" Ava says with a small smile, "In fact, I pinky promise." She extends her little finger for Sara to take, making the other woman chuckle. She accepts it and they both share a smile.

"Now…" The taller woman whispers, her voice huskier than usual, "What do you say we take care of the fact that you're feeling overdressed?" She asks with raised eyebrows, leaning in to kiss her girlfriend's neck.

Sara smirks at the suggestion, "Shouldn't we wait for the food to arrive?" She says, but all thoughts of that are gone when Ava bites down on her pulse point, making her blood rush through her body and a deep arousal starts to form on her lower belly.

"Screw that." Ava answers, pushing her lover down on the couch and getting on top of her.

The smaller woman rests her hands on each side of her girlfriend's hip, "Or better yet, you could screw me." She says with a smirk on her face.

The Agent leans down and catches Sara's lips, asking for entrance with her tongue, which her lover gladly grants.

Meanwhile the Legend moves her hands up and under the blonde's T-Shirt, caressing the soft skin right under her breasts, making the woman moan into her mouth.

Ava moves away from Sara, leaving her pouting, "You're adorable." She states, smiling down at her. She grabs the hems of her lover's shirt and Sara sits up, helping her take it out.

The taller woman takes her T-Shirt out as well, leaving her only in her shorts. Sara licks her bottom lop at the sight of her girlfriend nude chest.

Ava blushes but swallows down her shyness, "You have too much clothing on Lance." She complains, moving forward to take Sara's sports bra off. The woman puts her arms up to make it easier for her, "Better?" She asks raising her eyebrows.

"Definitely." Her lover says smirking.

Sara takes the chance to reverse their roles, now being the one on top, earning a small yelp from Ava, "These shorts have to go Miss Sharpe." She declares, hooking her index finger on their waistband and pulling them down.

She leaves a trail of kisses from Ava's hip down to her legs, until the shorts are on the floor.

After that, she settles herself between her lover's thighs, spreading her legs apart, "No panties? Perfect." She says with a husky sultry tone.

Ava shudders at that and her breath itches with anticipation, "Sara…"

"Yes?" She asks, resting her head on her left thigh, right next to her girlfriend's inviting sex. She plants a wet kiss there, just to mess with her.

"You're such a tease, god."

"You secretly love it, confess." She demands playfully, moving her head to leave a kiss above her lover's clit.

Ava arches her back at the feeling, aching for more of her touch, "Fine, I do. Now please, can you, you know…"

"Can I what my love? Say it." Sara asks again, now in a bossy tone, "What do you want me to do?" She moves her index finger up and down through Ava's wet folds, making the woman roll her hips.

"I want you to fuck me… Please." She admits a bit shyly at first, but when she feels Sara's tongue on her sex all she forgets all of that. All that matters is the sweet movement of her lover's experienced mouth on her clit and folds.

She rests her right hand behind Sara's head, holding her in place, while she enlaces her left hand with her girlfriend's right one.

Her moans start to grew louder and louder while her breathing gets faster, she's almost reaching a sweet orgasm when Sara decides to add a finger inside of her while her mouth works on her clit, trying to bring her to the edge.

After a few minutes Ava comes in full force, arching into her lover's mouth while screaming her name. Sara helps her body calm down a bit before taking her finger out and moving her way up to be face to face with her.

Her girlfriend's green eyes are a shade of dark and her lips have a smile on them. Sara smiles back at her, leaving a kiss on her forehead, on the bridge of her nose and lastly on her lips.

Ava sighs happily into the kiss, pulling her lover closer to her by enveloping her arms around Sara's waist. The freckled woman rests her face on the crook of the Agent's neck, leaving a kiss there. Both women rejoice on the feeling of having their bodies pressed together, especially after making love.

They stay that way for a while, neither wanting to break the comfortable silence that has settled between them.

After around five minutes someone rings the doorbell, catching their attention.

Sara turns to Ava, "It must be our food. Let me just get dressed and open the door, you stay there." She gets up and puts on her shirt quickly.

"Wait, you'll need some money to pay them." Ava says and motions for her wallet on top of the coffee table, "Take it and give them a tip if you want to."

The Legend bends down to grab the wallet and before running to open the door she stops and stares at Ava for a few seconds in silence.

"What?" The taller woman asks, suddenly aware that she's full on naked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to save this amazing image of you on my brain." She admits, gesturing to Ava's body with her hand.

Ava laughs at that and throws a pillow at her, "Just go get our food you goober. You've left me starving."

Sara catches the pillow in time and throws it back at her, "Alright I'm going."

Ava catches the pillow from the ground and takes it in her arms, holding it close to her chest. She smiles thinking about how her girlfriend makes her feel so loved and wanted.

She decides to put on her clothes again while Sara pays for the food and after a couple of minutes she's back in the living room with their food ready to eat.

They put on an action movie while they eat their dinner in peace, changing glances here and then. When they finish eating the movie is long gone as they are too busy being caught up in each other's. They move to the bedroom so they can have more space to be with one another.

After a couple of hours both women fall asleep naked and tangled in each other's arms, with Ava resting her head on Sara's chest. Lately that's the only way she can sleep properly, by hearing her lover's heartbeat. It makes her feel safe.

She doesn't know what the future will hold, but she does know that as long as she has Sara's support, she can face any scary thing that may come her way.


	5. AVA Corporation

**AN: Hey there! Sorry I took so long, but something came up in my personal life and I've been a bit busy.**

**Special thanks to "thecharmedones27" for leaving nice comments on this and therefore leaving me with a smile on my face :)**

**Hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Ava wakes up startled with her body covered in a thin layer of sweat. She looks around and tries to remember where she is. She calms down when she realizes she's in her bed sleeping next to Sara.

A smile takes over her lips while she admires her girlfriend's peaceful face. This means no nightmares for her this time then. Great.

She grabs her smartphone from the bedside table to check the time. It tells her it's only 8 o'clock in the morning; it's still too early. She puts the phone down again and turns on her side, facing the woman next to her.

Ava extends her right arm and circles Sara's waist. The Legend stirs slightly, but doesn't open her eyes. The taller woman lets out a sigh of relief.

"Did no one ever tell you that it's rude to stare?" her girlfriend suddenly asks with a lazy smirk on her face, slowly opening her eyes, "And kinda creepy as well," she yawns and takes her time stretching her whole body.

The Agent chuckles and shakes her head, "I couldn't resist. You look so adorable while you're asleep," she admits, booping her freckled nose.

Sara gives her a small pout, "Only when I'm asleep?" she asks, pulling her lover closer.

Ava laughs lightly at that, "Sara Lance, Captain of the Legends and former Assassin, afraid of not being cute enough?" she states with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I say?" she presses her lips against Ava's for a quick chaste kiss, "You have that effect on me."

They smile at each other and share another kiss, this time lasting a few more seconds. When they part Ava decides to speak, "Hey Sara…" she starts, playing with her girlfriend's left hand.

"Yes Ava?" the other woman asks smirking.

"I was thinking that maybe we could go to 2213 today?"

Sara puts on a more serious face and seems to ponder her answer, "Okay," she nods in agreement.

"Really? You don't mind?"

The Legend shrugs her shoulders and gives her a small smile, "Of course not, let's do it. I just have to let my team know that I'll be busy today before we go, alright?"

Ava smiles happily, "Yes, of course!" she kisses her excitedly, "Thanks! I'll take the chance to let the Time Bureau know that I'm taking the day off as well. Good thing I had some vacation days saved off."

* * *

**EARTH – YEAR 2213**

Sara looks up at the woman next to her, "We're finally here Aves."

Ava looks back at her and grabs her hand, "This is it. There's no turning back now. Right?"

Her girlfriend squeezes her hand softly and smiles at her, "This is it. I'm here for you though."

"I know," the Agent says, leaning down to give her a small peck on the lips. After that, she straightens her back, exhales deeply and tries to swallow the wave of anxiety she's feeling, "Okay, let's go to the Company that created… Me, I guess."

An AVA Clone passes through them and greets them, wishing them a great day.

Both women turn to each other, "That was so not weird at all…" Ava adds, making Sara chuckle.

"Yeah, that was kinda how I felt the first time I was here. Especially since my stupid ass had just broken up with you," the Agent can't help but grimace at that, which doesn't go unnoticed by Sara.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up Ava," the Legend apologizes, cupping her girlfriend's cheek with her hand.

"It's okay Sara, I know you had good intentions at the time. Even though it sucked a lot to be apart from you," she confesses, resting her hand on top of Sara's.

"I couldn't agree more. But you're stuck with me now, I'm never gonna leave," the smaller woman admits, kissing her girlfriend softly on the lips. Ava smiles into the kiss.

"Good. Now let's get going, I really don't wanna deal with more copies of myself greeting us."

"Agreed," Sara says, nodding.

After around fifteen minutes they were in front of the building that spelled out "AVA Corporation".

Both women stare at the door for a while, until Ava breaks the silence, "So… Do you have any idea about how can we go in without causing trouble?"

Sara looks around, trying to come up with something. Her face lights up and she looks at the entrance door confidently. Ava takes it as a positive answer; she turns to her girlfriend waiting for an answer.

Sara's grin falters a bit and now she looks reticent, "Well I do, but you're not gonna like it."

"Whatever it is, I trust you."

"Great! Let's just hope that this outfit Gideon made me will do the trick," the Legend perks up, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the building with her, "Don't forget, you agreed to the plan," she mutters that last part only for Ava to hear.

When they approach the door, the security guard is already turning his attention to them.

"Good evening Miss, may I see some ID please?" he asks Sara. She's glad she was smart enough to think of also asking Gideon for a fake ID card. She reaches into her lab coat's pocket and places it on the man's extended hand. He checks it carefully and then eyes Sara curiously.

"I've never seen your face around here. Are you new?" he asks her with a deep voice that makes her skin crawl.

"Yes actually, I am! I can tell you're attentive," she smiles at him, "Can I go through now please? I really have to get back to work."

He puts his hand in front of her, "Actually, not so fast. May I know what do you do?"

Even though she is a trained fighter, she knows going against some security guy in the middle of the street in broad day light would screw their plan entirely. Instead she decides to endure through his questions for a bit.

"What do you mean exactly?" she asks, still maintaining a charming smile.

"I mean inside of the Lab. You see, I always had the curiosity to find out but I never had the patience to ask those nerds what they do all day over there."

"Well it depends," she swallows her nerves down and turns to Ava, "For instance, just recently a client acquired this AVA Clone model a few months ago and it's already showing some signs of trouble. It's having some kind of malfunction I think and since it's still on the warranty period the client decided to send it back here for us _**nerds**_ to check if anything can be done to fix it."

She hates herself for having used the word "_clone" _and all she wants is to grab Ava's hand to try to comfort her but she knows she has to keep herself in character. Instead she pushes the bad feelings down and keeps showing the guy her most charming smile.

He narrows her eyes at her and crosses his arms in front of his chest making his already big frame seem even bigger, "Ah I see, interesting. You know Miss Lance, usually the nerds I meet don't look exactly like you…" he smirks at her with a flirtatious tone.

Sara counts to five in her head to keep her anger from coming out. She can't believe he's actually flirting with her right now. She looks at Ava, who simply has a blank expression on her face.

The security guard shrugs his shoulders, "Alright well, I won't keep you here anymore. Just go ahead and try not to cause any trouble," he says with a chuckle, laughing at his own joke, "As if such a tiny and adorable lady like you could ever."

Sara thanks him and forces a smile on her face, dropping it once she is inside the building, "What a jerk! Assuming I'm some kind of weak damsel."

"Sara! Lower your voice please." Ava pleads with her, suddenly very aware of their surroundings and the number of security on each corner, "Gosh, this almost seems more guarded than the Buckingham Palace."

The Legend chuckles at that, only Ava could make her laugh at such a moment. She turns to the Agent, "Okay, the first bit is done. Now comes the harder part; remember, you agreed to this."

Ava nods, "I know babe, let's get it done already. People might get suspicious."

"Okay, I love you. Don't forget about that." Sara whispers and motions for them to make their way to the front desk. Once they get there, Sara puts on her best smirk, "Good evening," she greets, her voice filled with a flirtatious tone. The young woman in front of her blushes, "Good evening and welcome to the AVA Corporation, Miss. What can I do for you today?" she asks Sara, a shy smile on her face.

"Well you see, it's my first day here as a Lab Technician and I was thinking if you could indicate me to the way there?" Sara says, her voice huskier than usual. She will definitely have to apologize to Ava later for all of this, properly, in bed. Not that she minds, on the contrary. She smiles to herself at the thought of Ava lying naked in bed under her. The voice of the young woman brings her back, "Miss?" she asks, trying to catch Sara's attention. When she's sure she has it, she continues, "If you could just come with me, it's right at the end of that hallway and then you just have to turn left."

"Thank you! That's very kind of you, but you don't have to take me there. I don't want to keep you from your work."

"It's no problem at all, part of my job," she replies, getting up and making her way to Sara's side when the phone suddenly rings. She gets back to her desk to pick up the phone, "Yes?"

Sara waits for her, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. Ava takes the chance to signal at her girlfriend to do something while the secretary is distracted by the phone call.

The Legend shrugs her shoulders at her girlfriend, she doesn't know what she's supposed to do. She can't exactly make a run for the Lab out of the blue, it would raise too many suspicions. Instead she decides to turn to the secretary and press her luck, "I'm sorry but I'm already late. I have to get going, I'll find the way don't worry," she approaches with a low voice, trying not to disrupt whatever conversation she's having over the phone.

The young woman puts her right hand over the speaker and tells her in a hushed tone, "Okay go right ahead," she turns her attention back to the phone.

Sara thanks her with a big smile and a wink, making the poor woman blush profusely this time.

Once she and Ava get to the end of the hallway and make sure that no one can see or hear them from that distance, they drop the act, "I'm sorry you had to see all of that, flirting," Sara apologizes.

Ava steps closer to her, "I understand," she murmurs, letting her gaze fall to the floor, "I mean, it was only for the mission. Besides, I agreed to it, so… Don't worry about it."

"Ava…" Sara tries to get her to look up at her, "Please look at me." It's proving to be very difficult to not be able to comfort Ava physically through this situation, but she knows she has to stick to the mission.

Her girlfriend eventually lifts her face and she can finally see the beautiful eyes she loves so much, "I would never, ever, do something to hurt you intentionally. This is as hard on me as it is on you. Don't forget that okay?"

Ava smiles softly at her. It doesn't quite reach her eyes, but at least it's something.

"God I so wish I could hold you right now," Sara confesses, earning a chuckle from Ava. Music to her ears.

"Tell me about it!" the Agent adds, "I love you."

The Legend smirks at that, "I know Aves, I love you too."

"Great! Now what?" Ava asks, pointing at the door behind them. It reads the word _**Lab **_in black bold letters.

"Now let's see if this ID card works properly," Sara tells her, grabbing the card from her pocket and pressing it on the digital reader next to the metal door. The few seconds of waiting seem like an eternity and both women sigh with relief when the reader flashes a small green light and the door opens.

"All clear!" Sara claims excitedly once she checks if it's safe for them to come in.

Ava steps in after her and looks around, trying to take it all in. Sara decides it's best to give her a moment. She stays by the door, in case any staff appears.

Ava goes through the left side of the room, looking at the equipment and all the papers scattered around some desks. It's mostly just calculations and daily annotations. On the other side of the room the desks are messier, mostly occupied by loose pieces, like tiny screws and some kind of computer chips. She picks one up and it amazes her how something even smaller than the palm of her hand can hold so much power. She then remembers that an exact same chip is probably inside of her and instinctively clenches her jaw at the thought.

She drops the piece to the place where she found it and keeps looking around. On a desk further into the room, she notices that there's a pile of much more tidy papers and decides to take a look.

"Sara?" she calls, trying not to raise her voice too much.

Sara turns to her, "Yeah? Did you find something?"

"I think so," she gestures to the file on her right hand, "This file here says _**Clone XII**_… According to what Rip told me, that's me."

The upset look on Ava's face doesn't go unnoticed by the Legend, and she steps closer to her, "Okay, let's grab it and go then? Before anyone comes in," she says, preparing to leave.

Ava stops her by grabbing her forearm, "No, wait! We can't do that, it might create an anachronism."

Sara's features soften and she places her hand on top of Ava's, "I'm sure it won't be a problem. It's just a file Aves, they probably have backup copies of it," she turns her head to look at the door, "Let's just hurry up before someone shows up."

Ava sighs, "You're right," she agrees and hands the file over to Sara, "Can you hide it in your lab coat please? I don't want to raise suspicions in case we bump into someone."

Sara accepts it and hides it away, "Okay! Now let's go."

They were about to step outside the door when suddenly a man in a lab coat similar to Sara's bumps into them, "Oh sorry!" he says, before taking a good look at them. His expression goes from apologetic to puzzled, "What is that thing doing here?"

"Sorry?" Sara asks confused. Ava decides to go back into character, trying to stay with a blank expression on her face.

The man points to Ava, "The Clone, lady! What is it doing here in the middle of the Lab?"

"Oh, right! Well it had a minor malfunction so I decided to see if I could fix it, which I did by the way, successfully," she states with fake pride on her voice.

"Hm…" he narrows her eyes at her, not looking very convinced, "Who are you again? I don't recall seeing you around here."

She points to her ID card, "Sara Lance, Sir. I just started today," she extends her hand for him to shake, "Delighted to make your acquaintance."

He accepts her hand, reluctantly at first, but ends up giving it a firm shake, "Likewise, Miss Lance. Welcome to the AVA Corporation."

Sara thanks him and prepares to leave with Ava trailing behind her, but turns on her tracks when she hears his voice again, "Oh before you go Miss Lance, may I know what the problem was? With the machine."

This time the Legend starts to panic, not being able to come up with anything so suddenly. She tries to open her mouth a few times but nothing comes out.

Thankfully someone comes to her rescue; she hears a voice calling from the front desk, "Mr. James!" the young secretary waves at him, "Mr. James!" she's making her way over to them in a hurry. She stops to catch her breath for a few seconds when she reaches them, "I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but there's something going on on Lab 12 that needs your attention."

"I see," he says nodding, "Thank you Miss Stevens, I'll be right there," he then turns to Sara, "And you Miss Lance, hopefully we'll get the chance to catch up on the subject at matter later."

"Of course," she says, smiling at him. Once he and the secretary are finally gone she drops her smile and Ava relaxes her body, "Damn, that was close Sara."

The Legend sighs, "I know! I'm just glad that Miss Stevens showed up at exactly the right time."

Ava scoffs at that and Sara bumps her hip to hers playfully, "Miss Sharpe, jealousy is not a good colour on you," she states with a grin on her face.

"God you're insufferable," she says shaking her head, "I should kiss that smile out of your face."

Sara chuckles at hearing her admitting it out loud, "Later Aves, save it for later," she adds with a wink, "First we have to focus on the next phase of the plan, which means, how to get the hell out of this place."

"Actually…" Ava turns to look Sara in the eyes. She is biting her bottom lip nervously and Sara looks knowingly at her.

"What is it Ava? We already have the file, let's just get out of here before it's too late," the Legend tries to plead with her.

The Agent sighs and tries to keep her voice low, "I noticed other files over there were mine was. Files about the previous… _**Versions **_of myself. If I could just take a look –"

Sara's expression softens and her voice is gentle, even when cutting her girlfriend off, "Ava… I don't think that's a good idea." She steps closer and runs her hands slowly up and down Ava's arms.

"Why? I came here to find out more about all of this remember? To learn further things about other… _**Clones**_," her voice wavers at the word.

Sara seems to ponder on that for a couple of seconds, before giving in, "Fine," Sara adds, "I promise I would be by your side no matter what. Get the files and let's get going before that annoying man comes back."

Ava nods at her before entering the room again to grab the pile of files on the desk, "Okay I've got them Sara!"

"Great!" Sara says and prepares to open a portal through the time currier that's around her wrist. The portal leads them directly to her room at the Waverider and she motions for Ava to go ahead of her, before she looks around one last time to check that no one's following them.


	6. The Hard Truth

**AN: Sorry for the delay at posting this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Thank you so much for reading, commenting and adding this to your favourites and alerts. It really gives me motivation and strength to keep writing and especially publish :)**

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After they step inside Sara's room, Ava slowly sits down on her bed. Her eyes stay fixed on the files in her hands. Something tugs on Sara's heart at seeing the look of worry and fear on her girlfriend's eyes and she moves to sit down next to her. She takes her hand in hers and squeezes softly. Ava looks at their joined hands and then up to Sara's bright eyes, filled with understanding and concern for her.

She sighs, "I thought I made the right choice by bringing the files with me, but now I'm scared to look at them."

Sara holds Ava's face with her right palm, her thumb caressing her cheek gently, "Aves…"

Ava gives a small smile at the nickname and Sara continues, "Whatever those files say about your past, what matters is who you are now. The fierce and brave Director of the Time Bureau, the beautiful and kind woman I'm in love with, the woman who makes me think twice before I do something reckless. You're like my moral compass, I would be kind of lost without you."

Ava chuckles lightly at that and Sara takes it as a good sign to continue, "There's absolutely nothing in those papers that will make me change my mind about who you truly are Ava. I love you and that's definitely not going to change."

The Director sniffles softly and a single tear threatens to roll down her cheek before Sara wipes it away carefully. She plants a kiss on each side of Ava's face, before moving back to look her in the eyes, "You have no obligation to look at these files right away. You can decide to look at them in a week or even months, or never to look at them at all. It's your choice."

Ava seems to ponder on those possibilities for a while, but ends up deciding, "No. I've come this far; I wanted to know more and now that I finally have the opportunity to do so, I'm not going to post-pone it anymore. It's better to rip the bandage right away."

Sara nods, "Okay. Where do you want to start then?"

Ava shrugs, "I don't know… For the first file I guess. Clone number one?"

"Go ahead, I'm right here," the Legend tries to reassure her. She moves closer to Ava's side, so they can both read the file together. She lets her left hand rest on the small of Ava's back, to offer her support. The taller woman leans into the touch, her rigid posture relaxing a bit.

She exhales deeply before opening the first file, "Okay… Here goes nothing."

"_**Clone #1 **_

_**Name: **__Ava Sharpe_

_**Date of Fabrication: **__November 26__th__, 2209_

_**Function: **__Agent of the Time Bureau Organization_

_**Purpose: **__Operate as one of the top Agents at the Time Bureau_

_**Characteristics/Skills: **_

_Remarkable Offense and Defence Abilities in Combat_

_Strong and Athletic Body Structure_

_Remarkable Rational and Logical Thinking_

_Lack of Emotional and Sentimental Judgement_

_Unfaltering Devotion to its Function and Purpose_

_**Personal Background:**_

_**State of Origin: **__California_

_**City:**__ Fresno_

_**Father:**__ Randy Sharpe (played by actor James Andrews)_

_**Mother:**__ Pamela (Pam) Sharpe (played by actress Alice Jones) _

_**College:**__ University of California_

_**Instructions: **__The Clone is to be brought to Earth in the year 2014, and to immediately be set as an Agent at the Time Bureau Organization._

_The actors playing its parents are to be hired straight away._

_Its factory settings concerning its memory are to be erased and replaced with new fabricated memories of childhood, teenagehood and adulthood years as a normal human being. _

_**ATTENTION: THE CLONE CAN NEVER FIND OUT THAT IT IS NOT A HUMAN BEING. ANY PERSONNEL WHO REVEALS THIS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION WILL IMMEDIATELY SUFFER PUNISHMENT.**_

_**LAST KNOWN STATE OF THE CLONE: **__TERMINATED._

_**CAUSE OF TERMINATION: **__EXECUTED WHILE IN MISSION."_

The sheet of paper in Ava's hand starts to wrinkle under the strength of her fingers. Sara notices her girlfriend's hands tremble and takes one hand to her lap, reaching for the file with her other hand and placing it down on the bed beside her.

"Ava…" She says carefully, with the gentlest voice she can muster at the moment, "Look at me, please," she asks, now holding both Ava's hands on hers.

Ava looks at her, her vision blurry with tears, "I'm sorry," she whispers, wiping her tears away quickly.

Sara grabs her hands and holds them in place, "Hey… Don't ever, ever, feel like you need to apologize for crying in front of me. Besides, this is a lot to take in, you have every right of being upset."

Ava lets a small sob escape her lips, "I just… I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I wasn't expecting those files to have such blunt information. I wasn't expecting it to affect me so much you know? I thought… I thought I had already made peace with it. But it turns out I didn't, this is all too much. It feels like I'm finding out the truth all over again."

Sara smiles sadly at her, "That's the problem Aves, you always feel like you have to be this super strong, unbothered and in control woman at all times, but it's okay to feel vulnerable sometimes too. It's okay to need time to make amends with something as huge as this. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love your fierceness and all of that about you, but I also love your sensitive side, your human side. That's what makes me fall more in love with you every day."

Her hands move to cup Ava's face and she presses her lips against her forehead, leaving a gentle kiss there. She lingers for a while, leaving feather light kisses all over Ava's face. Between her eyebrows, trying to ease the crease that formed there; on the bridge of her nose, bumping their noses together affectionally afterwards; on each side of her face, catching the tears that dared to fall from the beautiful green eyes she loves so much; and finally landing on her lips, first cautiously, trying not to press too much, afraid of not being the right moment for it. But when Ava deepens the kiss, she follows suit and lets herself melt into her girlfriend's body.

Ava's movements turn rougher, her hands carding through Sara's hair quickly while her tongue comes out to part her girlfriend's lips, a surprised moan escaping through Sara's mouth.

The taller woman presses Sara down on the bed, discarding the rest of the files to the floor, moving to straddle her girlfriend's lap. Sara looks up at her with big bright eyes, her mouth partially open and her cheeks and neck flushed red.

Ava swallows at the sight in front of her, having Sara completely at her mercy does things to her core she never imagined ever being possible.

Sara looks at her with a worried face, "Ava…" she says, resting her hands on her hips, her thumbs tracing her skin there gently, "Talk to me baby, what do you need right now?"

"I…" Ava is at a loss of words. She feels lost. Her mind is racing, all she can think of is that all her life until now has been filled with lies; lies told by someone she thought was a friend of hers, a person in whom she could trust, someone she looked up to. How could Rip have the courage to lie to her face about something so important?!

Her expression turns into one of rage, before a deep sadness settles inside her and it doesn't go unnoticed by Sara. Her girlfriend can always tell when she's struggling to fight the sadness that starts to take over inside of her.

"Aves," Sara tries again, calling her softly, and moves to sit up, "Tell me, what can I do to make you feel better?"

That sentence wakes something inside of Ava, and before she even has time to realize what she's doing, she's throwing herself into the inviting arms of her girlfriend.

Sara gets thrown down into the bed with the force of impact, but she doesn't care. All that matters is that Ava needs her. She immediately wraps her arms around Ava's waist, holding tightly enough so that she can feel safe. Her girlfriend buries her face on the crook of her neck and she feels hot tears on her shoulder. She runs her hand gently up and down Ava's back, whispering soothing words that she hopes will help her feel better. Her other hand cards through Ava's long blonde hair and she presses a number of kisses on her head.

They stay like that for a while, with Ava crying and holding on to Sara's arms. Sara does the best she can to support her, even though it hurts her that she can't make all the pain in Ava's heart go away quickly.

It's only a couple of hours after that Ava finally seems to have calmed down, her breathing more even than before. She's not crying anymore, the only remnants of that being her swollen face and red eyes. She looks up to looks at Sara and the woman smiles softly at her.

"Hey there, do you feel better?" Sara asks with a gentle voice, kissing her forehead and Ava closes her eyes at the gesture, sighing contently.

Ava presses a kiss to Sara's neck, feeling her shiver against her lips, "I do," she plants another kiss, this time on top of her shoulder, "You always know how to make me feel better. Thank you," she whispers into freckled skin.

"How pathetic was that I ended up feeling like a wreck only by having read the first file? I still have eleven more to go," she chuckles bitterly.

Sara tenses at hearing Ava talk badly about herself, "Aves… Don't say that about yourself please. It's not pathetic at all, you're not pathetic," she tries to assure her.

Ava can hear the worry in Sara's voice and removes herself from Sara's side and holds herself up on her elbow, her head resting on her hand, "I'm having a hard time believing in that lately," she admits in almost a whisper, adverting her eyes from the woman in front of her.

Sara grabs her chin and tilts her head up again so she can look at her, "I know, and I won't stop saying it until you finally believe me. You, Ava Sharpe, are extraordinary."

Ava's lips curve into a small smile and Sara can't resist to kiss her, "You know what else you are?" she asks when they part for breathing, "An excellent kisser," a smirk graces Sara's lips.

Ava can't help but chuckle at that and Sara chest warms up at seeing her a bit happier. It's not a full laugh where wrinkles form on the corners of Ava's eyes and where her eyes shine with a light shade of green, but it's still something.

"Well you're not so bad yourself," Ava answers back.

Sara scoffs, feigning being offended, "Not so bad?! Maybe I need to stop kissing you then Miss Sharpe."

"No, no!" Ava whines with an adorable pout, "I was just kidding baby, you know that," she says, poking Sara on the side making her squirm. A mischievous look falls on her face and Sara tries to get away from her, but Ava's grip on her is strong.

"Ava, I know that look. Don't you dare tickle me!"

"Too late," she says, before attacking Sara on her sides. She laughs watching Sara squirm and yelp, pleading with her to stop between laughs.

"You're adorable," Ava admits, looking at the flustered woman beneath her. It's these intimate and playful moments between them both that give Ava the strength to keep going, to have hope.

"Just kiss me already!" Sara demands, and Ava can't help but smile into the kiss. They part after a few seconds despite Sara's whine, she tries to kiss the Agent again but Ava moves away.

"Sara, as much as I love kissing you, I need to know what the rest of the files say," she admits and Sara can hear the almost imperceptible fear on her voice.

She nods knowingly and sits up, "Okay, let's do it."

Ava mouths her a _thank you _and gets up to pick up the files from where they were discarded on the floor.

She opens the file that says _**Clone #2 **_and starts reading it in silence. She realizes that the information is basically the same as the previous one. She tosses it aside and opens the next files. She reads through from number three to number seven, and is reaching for file number eight when Sara's hand stops her. She turns her attention to the Captain.

"What is it babe?" she asks with concern.

"Aves, I feel like there's no point in putting yourself through more of these files. They all practically say the same, with the only exception being the way they… _Died._"

Ava sighs and runs a hand through her blonde hair, "Yeah… I guess you're right," she admits, rubbing her temples with her left hand, "Besides, all of this information is starting to give me a headache."

"Aww baby," Sara says in a sweet voice, reaching over to leave a kiss on Ava's forehead, "Maybe we should take a break."

"Or, we could simply skip the rest of the files and go straight to mine. My curiosity has been killing me."

The freckled woman shrugs her shoulders, "Your call Aves."

Ava nods and grabs the file that says _**Clone #12**_, placing the others beside her on the bed.

She exhales deeply, preparing herself for what it might say. Sara senses her tensing up and moves even closer, snaking an arm around her waist to hold her, tracing small patterns with her thumb to the fabric covered skin there.

Her girlfriend skips over the personal information which is the same as the other Clones, and goes straight to a different sheet of paper coloured blue, that wasn't in any of the previous files. She frowns and turns to Sara, seeing that she's frowning as well.

"This one here is different… Do you think...? Do you think it's something bad?"

Her girlfriend sighs and purses her lips, "I don't know babe, there's only one way to find out."

Despite Sara's slight encouragement, she can tell Ava's hesitant.

"Do you want me to read it?" she offers, smiling kindly.

"Maybe? I don't know… I mean…" Sara notices her start to panic again and holds the woman's face in her hands, "Ava, it's okay, you don't need to go through all of this today. We can check it out later."

Ava grabs her hands in hers and drops them to her lap, "I know that…" she sighs, thinking her next words carefully, "But I think it will be easier if I look at it now. We both have such a crazy life Sara, you with the Legends and myself with the Bureau. I'm not sure when's the next time we'll have some alone time for ourselves and I can't do this without you. I need you by my side, just like this," she says, kissing Sara lightly to further prove her point.

The freckled woman hums into the kiss, nodding when they part, "Okay. Take all the time you want then; we have all night, I'm not going anywhere."

Ava nods, smiling slightly at her and turns her attention back to the piece of paper on her hands.

"_**CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REGARDING THIS SPECIFIC MODEL:**_

_It has been brought to our attention that the Clone started demonstrating human emotions _and feelings_ that were NOT programmed into its system._

_**EMOTIONS DEMONSTRATED:**_

_**Doubt;**_

_**Excitement;**_

_**Guilt;**_

_**Courage;**_

_**Fear;**_

_**Anxiety;**_

_**Sadness;**_

_**Love.**_

_Therefore, protocol __**NAVA **__is to be initialized. _

_**ORDER OF PROCEDURE:**_

_The Clone is to be captured and consequently __**TERMINATED**__."_

Ava's breath catches in her throat after reading those last words. Her head starts spinning and she feels dizzy. It's becoming harder to breathe. Her hands go to rest on her thighs and she digs her nails forcefully in her jeans.

Sara snatches the sheet of paper from her hands quickly, crumpling the paper in her hands, "No... This can't be right!" she says raising her voice, "There has got to be an explanation to this!" she finally turns to Ava, who's now hunched over and shaking.

"Aves, baby, it's okay." She says soothingly, letting the paper fall to floor and opens her arms for Ava to lean into her. Ava immediately buries her face on her girlfriend's inviting chest, letting her tears fall free. Sara surrounds her with her arms, holding her tightly. She moves her left hand up and down Ava's back gently, while her right hand threads softly through honey blonde locks. She leaves small kisses on her forehead, whispering reassuring words to her, "It will all be okay Aves, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

When she feels Ava calm down a bit more, she places her hands on her face and wipes her girlfriend's tears away. Looking at her sad and hopeless eyes feels like a knife in the heart, but she puts on a brave face for her, "I promise you we will get to the bottom of this Ava. I will do everything I can to solve it," she assures her with a determined expression and fire in her eyes.

Ava nods and rasps a small _okay_.

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**AN: Well that's it. Hope you liked it! Anything just leave me a comment or a private message. You can also find me on Twitter, AlexaCondesso .**


	7. The End

**AN: Hey there! First of all I want to apologize for taking so long to publish this. I had some things happening in my life that became more urgent than writing this. That combined with the fact that I had a major writer's block about this story really set me back.**

**And also, this is going to be the final chapter, the end to this story, so I really wanted to write something special and put a lot of work into it. Which is what I did. It's my very first time writing a single chapter with 11000+ words, so I'm very proud of myself!**

**With all that being sad, I hope you're still interesting in reading how this story is going to unfold and if so, I hope you enjoy it!**

**P.S.: Thanks to all of you who left comments and added this work to their favourites and alerts lists! :)**

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After reading the awful truth Ava's Clone file contained, both she and Sara decide to confront Rip. They contact him and ask him to meet them at the Waverider in a couple of minutes.

When he arrives there, they are waiting for him at the bridge. Sara immediately steps closer to Rip. She grabs his forearm forcefully and drags him to her quarters so they can talk in private, with Ava following behind them.

"Sara calm down, what's going on?!" He asks her, confusion evident in his face.

She glares at him and he flinches at the coldness in her icy blue eyes, "Don't fucking tell me to calm down!"

Once they're inside her room and the doors are closed behind the three of them, she finally lets go of his arm.

He looks at Ava, trying to find some kind of answer on her eyes but the blonde has her head bowed down. He then turns his attention to Sara again, "Sara, please, just tell me what's wrong."

She scoffs and gets closer to him, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "What's wrong?! What's wrong is that you, once again, lied to us."

"What do you mean?" He asks with a frown on his face.

Sara shakes her head, "We went to 2213 and found the file about Ava, the file you so desperately tried to hide from us."

His eyes are wide open at her revelation and he immediately looks at Ava, who is now looking at him with what he recognizes as a mixture of disappointment and sadness. He gulps down, not really sure what to say at the revelation. He finds himself at a loss of words.

"Tell me Rip, what was it that you were expecting would happen by hiding all this information from us?" Her voice is now growing louder and she feels her anger rising, "Were you gonna wait until whoever runs that hellish Corporation started their hunting on Ava's life?!" She spats, only inches away from his face.

"Sara..." she hears Ava whisper behind her, but it does little to dampen her anger.

"No, Ava..." she scoffs once again, feeling sadness take over her, "We read what they're planning to do Rip! They're planning on capture and ki –" Sara goes to say to say the word but she can't. The mere thought of losing Ava frightens her, tugs at her heart until it becomes too hard to breathe properly. She can barely imagine it, let alone say it out loud. It's too much.

"Kill me."

She hears Ava say and it seems like her heart is going to stop, but then she feels a warm hand wrap in hers, a hand that has become so familiar to her that it feels like her own. Her breathing starts to slow down until it is normal again, and she squeezes her girlfriend's hand as a way of grounding herself.

Rip seems taken aback by the bluntness of Ava's words and his face goes from one of shock to one of confusion and then it finally settles to sadness all in mere seconds.

"What?" He asks, looking between both women, "That can't be true."

Sara frowns at that, "What do you mean that can't be true?! It's in the freaking file Rip! There's no need to lie to us anymore."

Rip shakes his head, "No, no... That... That wasn't on the file, I'm sure of it!"

The Legend scoffs and moves to her bed to grab the file, handing it over to Rip. He swallows nervously before opening it. He scans it quickly until his eyes land on the piece of information he's looking for. When he does his eyes go wide before a frown forms in his face.

He looks up at Ava and Sara, "I... I didn't know. This wasn't on the file last time I read it. If I knew you were in danger I would never, ever, hide it from you. Ava, please, you have to believe me!" He tries to assure her, stepping closer to the blonde who immediately takes a step behind further from him.

"Don't," she says, jaw clenched and eyes threatening to water.

Hurt can be seen across his features, but he quickly disguises it. He understands Ava's need to move away from him, he knows he can't blame her. Besides, this isn't about himself right now.

"Ava, please," he almost begs, "I knew things were being run differently in 2213 after the last time I was there, but I never thought they would be capable of doing something like this. And simply because you have developed human feelings?! I could never, I would never be behind something like that! You know me Ava!" He says, a desperate tone on his voice.

"I thought I did Rip," she tells him, voice quavering, "But you've been lying to me from the very start. Saying you recruited me into the Time Bureau for being one of the best agents at the academy when in reality you simply picked me from a factory? And to make matters worse, I wasn't even the first one; I am the twelfth on a line of Clones that were selected and then erased from memory as some kind of meaningless machines the second they made a mistake," she says, stepping closer to him, "Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do you have any idea how worthless and heartbroken I've been feeling ever since I found out my mentor and friend betrayed me by not telling me the truth about who I really am?"

"Ava, I'm sorry for acting so wrongly towards you and I'm aware I can't change what I've already done, but we can still fix this," Rip says with determination in his voice.

Sara turns her attention from Ava to him, "What do you mean?" She asks, still not very trusting of his words.

"We will come up with a plan to save Ava, we still have time but we have got to hurry. We don't know how close they are to find her and capture her."

"I don't think I can trust you to help us," Ava says, looking at the man with a frown.

Sara sighs and steps closer to the Agent, cupping her face with both hands, "Aves," she starts and the Agent immediately feels her heart flutter at the affection, "I know it's hard, but maybe it will be good to have Rip helping us with this. Mainly because he can serve as someone on the inside; no one will suspect of him being at the Corporation."

She waits for Ava's agreement to what she just said, not once breaking her gaze from hers. When her girlfriend doesn't say anything she insists one more time, "We'll ask for the Legends help as well, if you want to. We will get all the help we need, I promise. Just trust me on this."

"Do you really think Rip can help us?" Ava asks with such a fragile voice that Sara's heart breaks a little at hearing it.

"I do Aves, I really do," she nods, pressing their foreheads together gently, "And if he screws up again, I will personally make him pay," she whispers, earning a dry chuckle from Ava.

"Okay," the taller woman says, pressing a gentle kiss to Sara's lips which she gladly returns.

Rip clears his throat awkwardly to get their attention. When they turn back to him he says, "Thank you for giving me the chance to help you Ava," he says, honesty evident in his voice.

Ava nods at his words and turns to Sara, "Tell the Legends, tell them everything. If we're going to move forward with this I need everyone on board."

"Okay, good. That way it will be easier to come up with a plan. Several heads usually think better than one," Sara says, and then looks at Rip, "Rip, this will be your last chance to make amends. We are counting on you, don't let us down," she tells him with her best threatening voice.

"I won't," he says, nodding at both women.

After having all the Legends reunited in front of them and aware of the situation, they start a brainstorm of ideas for a plan. An hour and a half goes by until they can all agree to settle on one that they feel has high chances of working.

"Okay, let's revise it one more time then!" Sara says bringing her hands together, "Ava, Rip and I will go to the main entrance and act as if we're turning in Ava. Ray will also enter with us, he will be shrunk down inside the pocket of my lab coat. We will want their full attention on us because meanwhile, Zari, Wally, Nate, Amaya and Mick will be coming in from the backdoor."

"Mick, Nate and Wally will disguise themselves as part of the security to help us fight the guards off when they try to take Ava."

"Once we're inside Ray will fly off to the Lab with the new altered and shrunk down Ava's Clone file we asked Gideon to fabricate, and replace the old one with it."

"When that's done he will return himself and the file to their normal size and then meet with Zari and Amaya on the server's room where Zari will be accessing the Corporation database to change all the digital backups of the copy they have as well," she explains and then turns to Amaya and Ray, "You two will be guarding her back. The minute you suspect anything bad is going down, immediately tell us through the intercoms. We should be done with security by then."

"After that, we have around five minutes to leave the place before the alarm goes off. Alright, is everybody on board?" Sara asks one more time and when all of them nod, "Very well! Go to the fabrication room to get your ID badges so you can open all the doors and get some costumes as well so you can blend in."

When they make their way to the room, the Captain turns to Rip, "Could you give me a moment alone with my girlfriend please?"

"Of course," he answers, nodding and walking away.

She waits for him to leave and moves closer to Ava, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and then lets her hand rest against her cheek, "Are you really okay with this Aves?" She asks in a soft voice, caressing her skin with her thumb gently, "Because I can still call it off, just say the words and I will do it."

Ava leans into the familiar touch and smiles fondly at Sara's protectiveness of her, "I don't see any other way we could possibly make this work Sara," she tells her, "Besides, I trust you," she adds, placing her own hand on top of the blonde's, "And your team, but don't tell them I said that," she adds trying to lighten up the mood. She smiles softly and gives Sara a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Okay," the Captain whispers against her lips, "It just pains me to deliberately put you in danger," she lets out, her blue eyes shining with tears unshed.

"It's okay Sara, it will all work out in the end. We just have to stay strong and believe that the plan will work," Ava says firmly, trying to convince both herself and the Captain.

Sara nods and steps back when she hears footsteps approaching them. When she turns around the whole team is there, including Rip. They stand in front of both women, looking at Sara expectantly.

She breathes in and out, preparing herself for the mission. She focus on it and adopts her confident posture that they are used to see from her part. When she speaks her voice comes out as a command, "Alright team, you all know what roles we have to play once we get there. Keep your intercoms turned on at all times, we cannot let this go sideways for such a reckless mistake."

Once she is finished she looks at them one by one, seeing if there's any traces of doubt about going into the mission. When she finds none, she proceeds, "Let's do this."

* * *

**2213 – AVA CORPORATION**

Sara presses the intercom in her ear, "Okay guys. Rip, Ray and I are approaching the entrance of the building with Ava. Is everybody in their places?"

"Copy that Captain. Wally, Mick and I are already infiltrated between the security guards," Nate lets her know in a whisper.

"Good. Amaya and Zari?"

"In position Captain," Sara hears Amaya say.

The Captain takes a deep breath and starts walking towards the building, turning her head to look at Ava, "Here we go."

Ava smiles encouragingly at her and nods, "Here we go."

Once they reach the entrance door a security guard stops them, "ID's please," he asks pointing with her head at Rip and Sara. His eyes then land on Ava, his stare going even colder, "The robot's too."

"Excuse me?" Sara lets out, her tone a bit harsh. Rip decides to intervene before their cover gets blown, "This is AVA Clone number 12," he tells the man, handing over the file with Ava's information. The man grabs it and quickly flips through the papers. Once he is done he returns his gaze to Rip, "I still need yours and the miss's ID."

Sara tries her best not to let her anger get the best of her, plastering a fake polite smile on her face before handing the man her forged identification. He nods before saying, "Very well. You may come in, I will let my colleagues inside know that you are to be expected."

"Thank you very much my good man," Rip politely says before walking inside with Sara and Ava trailing behind him.

"We've made it inside team," Sara quickly whispers through the intercom.

"Copy that Captain. I have eyes on you three. We have successfully infiltrated the security inside. Wally is guarding the corridor that leads to the Lab along with another guard. Mick and I are close to the outdoors."

"Okay I see you too Nate. There's still a handful of guards around, we have to be careful here. Whatever it happens, we can't let them take Ava."

"No worries Captain, we've got Mrs. Captain's back."

Sara shakes her head at Nate's words and if the situation where they are at the moment wasn't so serious, she would have laughed at Ava's face upon hearing the nickname given to her.

The smaller blonde's face quickly turns into a more serious one as soon as she sees the head scientist from the lab approaching the main entrance and she immediately recognizes him from her previous visit to 2213.

The man makes its way to the secretary, "Morning Miss Stevens! I was told that someone was here to deliver a specific clone."

The secretary looks up at him with a smile, "Ah yes, Clone number 12! Apparently it's those two right there Mr. James," she says while pointing at Rip and Sara. The man's face turns into one of confusion when he gets closer to the trio. He eyes Sara up and down before speaking, "Your face is very familiar to me Miss. Are you from around here?"

"Nope," the Legend promptly says, "We are just here to hand over the clone."

The man glares at her, "No... I'm sure I've seen you around," the man insists, scratching his chin deep in thought.

"Trust me Sir, I just have one of those faces," she tells him with a sweet smile.

The scientist doesn't look very convinced but he decides to let it slide, instead choosing to focus on the matter at hand, "I see... Care to tell me why is the Clone in your possession?"

Sara curses internally, finding herself at a loss of words. Rip notices and decides to step in, clearing his throat, "Excuse me, mister?"

"The name is James," he lets him know, extending his hand for Rip to shake, "I'm the head scientist in charge of the Lab."

"Ah I see. It's very nice to meet you. My name is Rip Hunter and I was the one who bought this version of the Clone. Sara here is simply a co-worker of mine who was curious about how this Corporation works," Rip tells him with a charming smile.

"Very well Mr. Hunter, it's nice to meet you. Thank you so much for bringing the Clone in personally," he says, turning to look at Ava who tries her best to remain with a stoic expression on her face.

"But you can leave it with us now. We'll take it from here," he lets them know, signalling to the guards, "Grab the Clone and take it to the main Lab. I have to run a few tests before we commence the termination procedure."

Sara's eyes open wide at his words and she feels sick to her stomach, "No!" She shouts, putting herself between Ava and a couple of guards.

"Sara," Rip warns, trying to keep her from doing something reckless.

She shakes her head and her voice is firm when she says, "No Rip! I won't let them take Ava!"

The scientist scoffs after hearing Sara, "You speak about this thing as if it was more than just a robot built in a factory, young lady. They are nothing more than replaceable machinery. Do not worry, we will be sure to deliver a new Ava version to your friend, Mr. Hunter, in no time."

Sara still doesn't budge, glaring at the guard approaching her, "You do as much as lay a single finger on her and I'll make sure you go home with both your arms broken," she growls to the huge, bulky man in front of her. He snickers and grabs her arm trying to yank her away from Ava, but before he can do anything Mick appears behind him and pins the man's arm to his back leaving him groaning in pain.

"Hands off the boss!" Mick snarls with a threatening look towards the men. Nate makes his way over to stand beside Mick but the rest of the guards are quick on their feet and have the Legends all surrounded in no time and are ready to strike.

"Ray go, now!" Sara gives the order and the Atom takes the cue and makes his way to the Lab while the guards are distracted.

After that it all happens too fast. Rip nods to Wally and in a matter of seconds he disappears from his place on the wall and is grabbing Ava away from there. Sara has no time to react to that because first she has to fight the security guards off. Mick and her take their weapons out while Nate steels up and together they start fighting them off one by one.

"Hey English man! A little help here!" Mick growls towards him but Rip simply shakes his head, "I'm sorry."

Once again none of them have time to even understand why the sudden apology comes out because a few seconds after Wally returns and takes Rip away from the scene.

"Coward!" Mick grunts with anger burning in his eyes while throwing a punch at one of the guards and successfully knocks him down to the ground.

A few minutes after that Ray reaches the Lab and sneakily passes through the small group of scientists that are there, flying towards the table where the files are and landing there before leaving the changed copy of Ava's file on top of it.

"Okay Captain, the new file on Ava is delivered," he lets Sara know through the comms, "I'm on my way to Zari and Amaya's position."

_**Meanwhile with Wally and Rip...**_

"Okay Wally, you know what to do," Rip says grabbing the young Legend's shoulders, "Take Ava to a safe place and only return when I give the order. No sooner than that, do you understand me?"

"I do Rip. But come on, did you really have to sedate her?" The young man asks looking down at the sleeping Agent on his arms.

Rip sighs at his words, "It's better if she doesn't know what I'm about to do. There's a reason I didn't tell the Legends about the whole plan, because there's no way you would all agree. Especially Ava and Sara."

"What do you mean the whole plan?!" Wally asks with a worried expression on his face.

"Just take Ava back to the Waverider safe and sound, please. This will all be over soon," Rip says one last time before Wally is finally out of sight. He nods to himself before punching some coordinates into his time courier. As soon as the time window appears he walks through it, smiling when his eyes land on the room he was looking for. _Lab X_, the signal above the red door reads. Next to the door there is a digital panel that requires a retinal match to open it.

Rip sports a smug smirk on his lips before approaching his right eye to the retinal scan and then his left one, both coming out clear. A green light appears on the panel before the door starts to open. He quickly presses his comms, "Great job you did there Gideon, I'm impressed."

"I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or as an offense, Captain Hunter," the cheeky A.I. responds.

"When it comes to you Gideon, always as a compliment," Rip retorts with a smile, "Now where is it?"

"According to the data I gathered, it should be on the second displayer on the right corner of the Lab," Gideon informs.

He makes his way over there and stops in his tracks, standing in front of what he has come to get. An AVA Clone exactly dressed up like Ava Sharpe. He gulps down before pressing his card against the opening of the see-through glass rectangular box it is in. Rip stays in silence for a couple of seconds until Gideon's voice is at his ear, "Captain Hunter, are you sure you want to go forward with this?"

He clears his throat and nods slowly, "I'm sure. It's the only way we can save Ava."

"Very well," the A.I. answers, "Please connect me to it so I can commence the procedure of the implantation of Agent Sharpe's memories, abilities, feelings and personality."

Rip grabs the wireless device from his pocket and connects it to the Clone. Gideon starts working straight on it and after five minutes the A.I.'s voice can be heard again, "Captain Hunter, the procedure is done. You may extract the device."

"Thank you Gideon."

"Rip?" He hears Ray's voice calls on the comms, "Is everything okay? Sara, Mick, Wally and Nate are not answering their comms."

"I don't know Mr. Palmer, I'm not currently with them."

"What do you mean you're not currently with them? Aren't you guys supposed to be handling the security guards at the entrance?"

The man sighs before answering, "There's been a slight change of plans."

"A change of plans?! Does Sara know about this?" Ray asks with a confused voice. He is about to continue with his line of questioning when suddenly an alarm starts blaring and red lights start to blink throughout the building.

"Oh no, this can't be good..." Zari chimes in.

"Listen to me Mr. Palmer, just go to entrance and see if the rest of the team needs help. I'll meet you there in a few," Rip hurriedly tells him.

"Copy that," Ray nods, motioning for Zari and Amaya to follow him.

_**Back at the Corporation's entrance...**_

Ray, Zari and Amaya were about to approach the entrance when they stop on their tracks after seeing the scene in front of them. The Legends are surrounded and restrained with handcuffs behind their backs by what seems to be another wave of new security guards. There are some of them laying on the floor badly injured who no doubt have a few broken bones.

"Ray, why did you stop? We need to help them!" Zari harshly whispers, pointing with her hand at her teammates.

"I know that Zari, but we can't just barge in in there. I'm trying to think of a plan."

"We don't have time for a plan right now Raymond! We need to act fast or else they are gonna take Mick, Nate and Sara as prisoners," Amaya adds in a harsh whisper.

Ray exhales heavily before nodding his head, "Okay maybe we could -"

"Do not take another step!" A gruff voice says behind them, making Zari look behind. Her eyes widen when she sees four guards looking down at them, "Oh this is not good..." she whispers shaking her head.

The four men grab the three of them and handcuff them as well, bringing them to entrance.

"Mr. James, we found these three hiding in the hallway," one of the guards tells the scientist.

The old man snickers before returning his attention to Sara, "Young lady, I don't know how you were able to infiltrate this Corporation with your band of little misfits, but let me tell you will absolutely not be released until you tell me where the Clone is!" He tells her with a threatening tone. His left eye is starting to bruise and his bottom lip is split. He winces while speaking to her and she smirks at him, satisfied with having to be able to at least throw two punches at him before she was restrained.

"I already told you, I don't know where she is," she smiles smugly at him, tilting her head to the side.

However her smile immediately disappears when she spots Rip coming their way.

"Mr. James, there's no need to fight anymore. I apologize for my friend's inconvenience but I'm here to make it up to you," Rip's voice announces, pointing with his head to the Clone by his left side, "I'll hand you over the Clone right away."

"Rip what the hell are you doing?!" She asks bitterly, trying to free herself from the grip of the security guard holding her in place.

"Yeah man! You left us all alone to fight these gorillas!" Nate chimes in, groaning when the guard holding his arms tightens his grip on him.

The head scientist looks at the man suspiciously before asking, "Let's say I believe you Mr. Hunter. How can you prove that what you're telling me is the truth? How do I know that that is the twelfth?"

"I'm sure you have ways to find that out," Rip says with a shrug of his shoulders, "Just put it to a test."

The scientist narrows his eyes at the English man, pondering for a while before deciding on what to do.

"Very well," he finally says, "If what you say turns out to be the true I will tell my guys to free them."

"Now if you all don't mind, let's move to the Grey Room so I can begin the evaluation. Grab Mr. Hunter and the Clone as well. We have to take precautions," he announces to his guards, nodding for them to move along.

The men tighten their grips on their prisoners and take them to a room with two separate sections. One of them is filled with two rows of several plastic chairs and its fours walls are all painted in a shade of dark grey, making the room seem even more sombre. In front of the chairs there's a two-way mirror that lets you see what's going on the other section of the room.

Inside that one there's simply a metal table and a single chair turned to the mirror.

The Legends and Rip are rushed to the first section accompanied by the guards, who lock the door after they are all inside.

"Now sit down and be quiet. This will all be over soon enough," one of the security guards lets out in a growl.

Mick slumps down on a chair on the left corner, while Nate and Ray sit beside him. Some of the guards sit next to them, ready to pounce in case one of them tries to escape. Zari and Amaya sit on the front row chairs, with two guards by each side. Sara is the only one standing, she is too anxious to sit still. Her heart seems like it might jump out of her chest at any minute and she feels like throwing up right there on the carpeted floor.

Finally, the lights on the room in front of them lighten up and the door is open. She wishes it didn't. Her accelerated heart beat stops for a few seconds when her eyes land on the woman walking inside the room, eyes staring right at her.

"Ava..." Sara whispers, stopping in her tracks as if she were suddenly glued to the ground. All she can do is watch when Rip and the scientist follow behind, with the latter locking the door behind them.

"What..." Zari says, a frown on her face. She scoots closer to the edge of her seat, "What kind of tests do you think they are gonna do to her?" She asks in a concerned tone.

The Captain shakes her head and her team members are all sporting similar looks on their features. Some look at her with pity while others simply share her pain, knowing very well how hurtful it is seeing a loved one in danger.

On the other side of the room they can observe AVA sitting down at the table, with the scientist standing by her side. The man is holding an open file on his hands and Sara recognizes it as Ava's file. He places a recorder on top of the table and presses the record button before clearing his throat, "Head scientist James. Commencing tests on AVA Clone number twelve. Could you please tell me your full name and job description?"

"My name is Ava Sharpe, current Director of the Time Bureau Agency."

The scientist nods at the information, "So far so good. Who recruited you to work at the Time Bureau Miss Sharpe?"

The Clone turns her head to look at Rip before answering, "Rip Hunter was the one who recruited me Sir."

"Very well. Now tell me, how did you become the Director of the Time Bureau?"

AVA sighs before answering, something heavy can be seen in its eyes, "Unfortunately my predecessor, Director Wilbur Bennett, was killed during a mission. Therefore the need to be replaced by the best next person in line which happened to be me."

"What a remarkable accomplishment! It must have been a great honour for you!" The old man tells her.

"It was a bittersweet feeling. On one hand it felt good to be promoted because it meant that I got recognition for my hard work. On the other hand I lost a mentor and co-worker, which is never an easy thing to deal with."

"Hm I see..." the man answers, scratching his chin in thought. After a few beats in silence he speaks again, a malicious smile on his lips, "You speak of mentors... Tell me, do you consider Rip Hunter to be your mentor?"

AVA looks up at the man, her mouth slightly open. She swallows and casts her eyes down before answering, "I used to..."

"Used to?! As far as I know, Rip Hunter was the one who recruited you into the Time Bureau and who trained you until you became the remarkable Agent you are today. In fact, your file even tells me that you consider him a friend."

The Clone clenches her jaw, feeling her eyes starting to sting, "He... He wasn't honest with me," it whispers in a low voice.

The scientist bends down until his face is mere inches from AVA's, "What's that Miss Sharpe? I couldn't hear you."

The Clone grits its teeth, anger rising up within it, "I said he wasn't honest with me. He betrayed my trust by lying to me, about who... What I really am," AVA says, clenching her fists on top of the table.

Rip looks at the Clone in front of him, eyes wide-open. _"It looks too real, too much like Ava..."_, he thinks to himself. There's something in his gut telling him that this is wrong, that maybe this isn't the best solution. But he can't back down now, not when the _**real **_Ava is waiting for them safely at the ship. Just a few more minutes and it will all be over. He's brought back from his thoughts when he hears the scientist speak again.

The old man as a cold and crooked smile on his face, "I agree with you. It must have been hard to find out that all your memories are fake. That you're nothing than a machine. That not even your parents are your real parents," he said feigning empathy before placing a gentle hand on AVA'S left shoulder, "Tell me, how did it feel to know that you are not even an original? You are after all the twelfth in a line of Clones that were discarded like dirty old laundry," he finishes, squeezing on her shoulder hard.

"He's playing with her!" Sara shouts from the other side, moving closer to the mirror," Rip you son of a bitch! Do something!" She keeps shouting desperately.

"Sara -" Amaya tries to speak but gets interrupted by one of the guards.

"Step away from the glass blondie!" The man warns in a stern voice, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Let go of me you fucking idiot!" She lets out while she tries to kick him, "I swear to God, if he harms her in any way I'm going to fucking kill that old bastard!" Sara threatens before getting interrupted by a punch on her stomach. She grunts loudly before spitting blood to the floor.

The rest of the Legends stand up and try to help her but are immediately stopped by the rest of the guards.

One of the men presses a button on the side of the glass and speaks to the mic, "Mr. James, blondie here is causing some trouble. What do you want us to do with her?"

"You mean Sara?" The scientist asks making the Clone quickly turn her eyes to him, "Sara? Is she okay?"

The man looks at it impressed by its reaction, "Fascinating! It really is capable of empathy... Wait, this Sara... Is she the one who made you capable of loving?"

"Mr. James, I really don't mean to interrupt but she's becoming a nuisance. What do we do with her?" The guard insists.

The old man chuckles and finally answers him, "Bring her over here. This ought to be interesting."

"Sir, I don't think that's a good idea," Rip tries to reason with the man who scoffs at him, "And since when do you have any say on what I do on my Corporation Mr. Hunter? We made a deal. You and your friends are only to leave if and when I come to the conclusion that this is the right Clone. In the meantime, you stand there quiet and only participate when you're told to. Have I made myself clear?"

Rip nods curtly at the man, "Yes Sir. Apologies."

The door open after that as the guard enters the room with Sara. The scientist smiles at seeing her and locks the door, "Welcome Miss Sara Lance."

Sara looks at him with surprise, "How do you know my name?"

He smirks smugly, "Did you really expect for me not to remember you from last time? Besides, I just had to put two and two together. It all makes sense now, you being the love interest of the Clone. Why would you be accompanying Mr. Hunter if not because of that? Such a pity your little plan didn't work out in the end, isn't it?" He asks, stepping closer to her. She takes the chance to spit in his face, making him react in disgust. He quickly grabs a handkerchief from his pocket and cleans himself, returning the item to his pocket before turning his attention to her again.

He grabs her chin between his index and thumb and forces her to look at him in the eye, "You invade my Corporation, hurt my men and myself, and all because of such a thing like that!" He chuckles and shakes his head before his face turns into a glare, "Those flames you have right now in your eyes... I will enjoy watching them extinguish as you witness that insignificant thing being exterminated right in front of you," he snarls with spite in his voice.

AVA gets up and grabs the man's hand yanking it away from Sara. It quickly pins him down against the cold metal table, "Do not touch her!" The Clone growls through gritted teeth.

"Ava!" Sara's voice calls in an attempt to stop the woman she loves from committing something she might regret later.

The scientist snickers despite the pain the Clone is applying on his back, "I think I have seen enough! Get this thing off of me!" He yells and his guard is immediately grabbing it and pulling AVA away from the man. However it quickly releases itself from his hold, throwing the guard against the near wall and keeping him pressed there. The Clone throws a few punches at the man's face and ribs, dodging the punches and stabs that are thrown its way.

The rest of the guards on the other side of the glass promptly make their way over to the other room to help his colleague.

The Legends take the chance that they are alone and free each other from the handcuffs.

"Wally? We really, really, really need your help over here," Ray tells the young Legend through the comms, "This is going sideways very soon."

"Ray I don't even know where you guys are right now. That Corporation is huge!" Wally tells him.

"Wally listen to me," Zari says, "I'm gonna send our exact location to Gideon so you can come and help us out okay?" She explains to him, pulling out a small console and expertly typing a few lines of code in, "Okay it's done!"

"Hm guys..." Nate calls, trying to get their attention. They all turn to the mirror one more time and suddenly it all seems to happen in a matter of seconds.

"Don't you fucking hurt her!" Sara shouts, trying to stop the guards' hold on AVA. She groans when one of the other guards kicks her on the ribs. She ends up spiting out blood and the pain is making her dizzy. It hurts to even breathe properly.

"Stop!" The Clone screams at seeing the smaller blonde suffering, "I'm the one that you want and I'm right here. So just take me please and leave Sara alone. Let her go in peace!"

"No, Ava! You don't have to sacrifice yourself!" Sara desperately lets out, "Do something Rip, I'm begging you!"

Rip averts his eyes from her, clenching his jaw tightly before speaking, "What's done is done Miss Lance. This is the right thing to do."

"It's time to put an end to this whole show, I've seen enough! Grab that thing and restrain her," the scientist orders the guards, turning to Sara after, "Miss Lance, say goodbye," he tells her followed by an evil smirk.

"Ava, please... There's got to be another way..." Sara croaks out, her voice breaking.

"I love you Sara. Don't ever forget that," AVA says, with what seems tears starting to form in its eyes. The greyish blue eyes that the Captain loves so much.

She can't believe she is about to losing the woman she loves. It's not fair. But then again, when did anything have been fair in her life? From the moment she step foot on that damn boat with Oliver Queen, nothing in her life has been easy. Challenge after challenge, pain after pain, nothing good ever stays. This time it seemed different, it looked like she could actually have a chance at happiness with the most beautiful and wonderful woman by her side, as her lover. But of course that that would be over soon enough as well. Sara and grief walk side by side, they always will. And she should just simply accept that and go on with her life.

With one last look to her girlfriend she says between sobs, "I love you too Ava. I always will," her eyes once filled with fire now dead, a single tear running down her cheek.

"Such beautiful words," the scientist states with mockery in his tone. He then signals to one of his guards and the man hands him a black pistol similar to the one Rip owns. He nods and presses its slim barrel against the Clone's head, "Too bad they will be the last ones," he says in a cold voice before pulling the trigger. A single bullet enters its main core and AVA falls to the floor, eyes wide open and void of any trace of a soul.

The World turns mute for Sara. She wants to scream, wants to move but her body doesn't obey. She is simply still, numb. She watches in silence as the guards take AVA's body out of the room and finally sinks to her knees, "Ava..."

"Sara..." Rip tries to get her attention by placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She flinches and shrugs his hand away, "You killed her... How..." she shakes her head, a sob escaping her lips, "I trusted you... And once again you betrayed me, betrayed us."

The numbness that was starting to take a hold on her starts changing to something deeper. Something that has been buried inside of her for a while now, something she has been trying to hold down deep in her core. A flash of red flickers in her eyes and in a couple of seconds she is up and face to face with Rip who cowers at the sight of the woman in front of him. It's not Sara anymore, he quickly realizes. Not the Sara he has grown accustomed to.

The woman leans back and forcefully head-butts him, leaving him stumbling with a bloody gash on his forehead.

"Sara!" Amaya shouts, but the blonde woman is gone. Her Captain as she knew it, is not present at the moment.

She pounces on Rip once more, kicking him until he falls onto the floor. The man's face is filled with blood by now and her team is begging for her to stop, but she can't hear him. All she can hear are AVA's last words, ringing in her ears. Clenching at her heart so painfully that she feels like the tiny muscle might finally give in and stop permanently.

All of a sudden there is a par of hands upon her, grabbing her far away from Rip. The Legends are busy fighting the guards that are trying to get to Sara.

"Wally! Hold Sara while I sedate her and get her out of here now!" Rip shouts through the commotion.

"Go now Wally! While we hold the guards off!" Nate yells.

The young boy nods and gets the blonde out of there quickly.

"I fulfilled my end of the deal Mr. James. It's time for me and my friends to leave," the English man tells the scientist, who is staring at him with a fuming look, "Run while you can! But if I ever catch you stepping foot in this Corporation again I guarantee you that you'll be hunted down!"

Rip punches the coordinates to his time courier and tells the Legends to follow him. They quickly run through the portal and step into the Waverider, sighing as soon as the portal closes behind them.

Silence falls amongst the team once they reach the bridge, each one of the members still processing what just happened.

After a couple of minutes Wally finally appears and all eyes fall on him. He pointedly looks at Rip with waiting eyes.

"Sara is resting on the med bay," the young boy tells them.

"I should go check on her," Rip declares, making most of the team whip their heads at his words.

"Are you nuts?!" Nate asks with a frown on his face.

"Boss almost beat you to a pulp!" Mick grunts.

"I agree with them. Someone _**else**_ should check on Sara," Zari offers. The others look at her apprehensively, neither one of them knowing very well what the best thing to do is.

"I'll go," Amaya finally decides, making her way to the med bay. When she gets there she immediately stops in her tracks at the sight of the blonde woman in front of her.

"Ava?! But how?" The totem bearer asks with a puzzled look, "I saw you get killed..."

Ava turns to look at her and gives her a sad smile, and Amaya notices how there's still traces of fresh tears in her eyes, "What do you mean?" She asks with a frown on her face.

The curly-haired woman shakes her head and steps forward, slowly embracing the blonde in a hug. It's awkward at first, but Ava eventually relaxes in her arms and lets herself be hold. Amaya moves her hands up and down her back, trying to offer some sort of comfort.

"It doesn't matter..." she whispers, "The important thing is that you're here and you're safe," she adds in a soft voice.

Ava nods and leans back, "Thank you," she says with a grateful smile, stepping away from their embrace.

"I think maybe we should go tell the rest of the team that you are okay."

The blonde doesn't seem comfortable with the suggestion, "I don't want to leave Sara alone. I want to be here when she wakes up," she admits, turning on her side to look at the Captain.

"Sara won't wake up for a couple of hours Director Sharpe," Gideon's voice lets them know.

"See, she will be fine. Gideon will be monitoring her the whole time. As soon as Sara wakes up she will let us know," Amaya assured her with her usual soft smile.

Ava ends up agreeing and makes her way to the bridge with Amaya by her side.

Once they get there the other members of the team all turn their eyes on the blonde, staying speechless for a while.

"Ava... I mean Agent Sharpe," Ray stutters, "We're glad you're alive."

The Director chuckles at his awkwardness, "You literally just risked your own lives to save me Ray, I think we can call ourselves by our first names," she offers with a smile.

He puts on his trademark goofy smile before nodding, "Ava it is!"

"It's good to see you're okay Mrs. Captain," Nate chimes in with a smirk, earning a half-hearted eye roll from her accompanied by a small smile.

"So this is really you?" Zari asks with a bit of uncertainty still inside of her, "Like the _**real **_bossy, badass, uptight, who's madly in love for our Captain, Director of the Time Bureau Ava Sharpe?"

"Yes, it is really me," she nods, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Zari's depiction of her.

Mick simply raises the beer in his hand and nods, receiving a nod in return from her.

Her eyes then land on Rip and she flinches slightly at the way he looks, "Rip... Your face."

"Boss went real nuts on him," Mick tells her, earning a slap on the arm from Amaya.

"Yes, well... I can't really blame her," the English man admits.

"Okay... Care to tell me exactly what happened at the Corporation?" Ava asks with raised eyebrows, crossing her arms against her chest.

Nate quickly turns his head at her, "Wait... You mean you also don't know?"

The blonde shakes her head, "I have absolutely no idea about what happened. One minute I'm at the entrance with you and the next thing I know I'm waking up on the med bay with Wally by my side."

"What about you?" Amaya asks the young Legend and he holds his hands up, "Hey all I know is that Rip asked me to keep Ava safe at the Waverider and that's what I did."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do Rip," the Director sighs, shaking her head, "But first let's get you fixed before you get permanent damage on your face."

"Yeah better do it before Sara wakes up too!" Zari shouts at their retreating figures, "This is seriously messed up," she mutters to herself.

Once they get to the med bay, Rip sits down at one of the medical chairs and Ava cuffs the bracelet around his wrist.

"Now that there's just the two of us, care to tell me why the hell did you have me sedated and away from the mission?" Ava asks while she monitors his vitals.

Rip clenches his jaw, immediately regretting and wincing in pain.

"It was the only way for my plan to work Ava. The only way to keep you safe."

The blonde looks at him with a frown, "What do you mean, _**your **_plan? We all agreed to something together, as a team. If you didn't think it would work why didn't you say something before we went and executed it?"

Rip clenches his cuffed fist, "Because you and Sara would never agree on it! My plan might not have been the best when it comes to morale, but it sure worked out in the end."

"Morale?! What do you mean by that?!"

The man closes his eyes and exhales deeply before looking her seriously in the eyes, "I knew the file switch would never work. Even by deleting it from the servers we still didn't have any proof that it would one hundred per cent destroy evidence that the twelfth..." he cuts himself off, "That _**you**_¸ Ava Sharpe, would be safe from destruction. And I would never forgive myself if those bastards got to you Ava, never!" He tells her, holding her hand in his gently.

"Rip... What did you do?" She asks anxiously, her voice trembling slightly.

He squeezes her hand to gather himself before speaking, "I accessed a separate lab at the Corporation while Wally brought you here and the rest of the Legends were executing the rest of their plan."

"Okay..." she slowly nods.

"At that lab," he sighs before continuing, "At that lab I had access to another Clone-"

Ava opens her eyes wide at his words, "No." She shakes her head, yanking his hand away from his as if it were suddenly burned by fire.

"Ava listen to me please!" He asks, raising his voice. The blonde steps away from him as tears start to form in her eyes.

"You wanted the truth so here it is," Rip says, never breaking his gaze from her, "I implanted your memories, abilities, feelings and personality into that Clone so it would pass as yourself."

Ava lets out a sob, her hand coming up to her chest, "I can't believe you did that..."

"I had to do it Ava! It was the only way to keep you safe."

The woman sniffles, trying to hold back her tears, "What happened to her? What did you do?" She asks looking him in the eyes.

He swallows back the guilt that's taking over himself before proceeding, "I handed her over to them and after running a test they believed she was the real you and..."

"And what Rip?!" She spats making him flinch, "Are you seriously telling me that once again you took an innocent Clone and used her how you pleased?! After all that I've been through, how can you sit there and tell me that you killed one of mine with such easiness?!"

Rip takes the bracelet off and stands up, "One of yours? Ava, those Clones are nothing like you! You developed capabilities no other Clone before you ever could. You surpassed all odds! Why do you think I went through such great lengths to keep you safe, alive?!"

"No, no!" She yells, holding her hand, "You don't get to do that Rip! You don't get to praise me and make me feel like I'm some superior being when at the end of the day I'm just like them. Another one in a line of many." She tells him in a frail voice.

"Ava..." he whispers, stepping forward while she steps back.

"No Rip... I can't... I can't look at you right now, just leave..." she begs him and he tries to take another step towards her but she simply shakes her head, "Please..." she whispers, "Just go."

He swallows the lump in his throat and finally nods, "Very well..." he says making his way out of the med bay, stopping before he's gone, "Just remember Ava, my intention was never to hurt you."

She scoffs, "It never is with you, is it? But somehow, you still end up doing it," she tells him bitterly. She sits down on the chair where Rip was just minutes ago and lets her tears flow down her cheeks freely. She stays there for how long she doesn't know, being brought to reality when she feels a presence by her side. She turns to her right and sees Amaya there, smiling down at her gently.

"Rip told us what he did," she lets the blonde know before offering her a cup of tea, "I know this won't help ease your pain, but it's warm and it will soothe you a little bit. Trust me."

Ava scoffs at her last words, "The last person who said that to me was Rip and look where that got us," she bites out, immediately regretting it. She looks up at Amaya's kind eyes and takes the cup of tea on her hands, "I'm sorry."

"I know he did wrong by you, but you're not alone in this Ava. You have Sara and you also have us," the Totem bearer smiles at her reassuringly.

The blonde nods and gives her a weak smile, "Thank you. And thanks for the tea."

"Anytime," Amaya says, turning on her heels to leave her alone with Sara, but before she does she stops and turns to look at Ava one more time, "You know... Rip may have acted in dubious ways, but at least his plan kept you safe and alive. And at the end of the day, isn't that what matters?" Amaya ends with a kind smile before walking out of the med bay.

Ava doesn't answer, too angry and tired to reflect on her words properly. She chooses instead to focus on the small cup on her hands, blowing at the tea before taking a small sip, humming contentedly at the feeling of the warm liquid down her throat. It will help ease the soreness she feels after all the shouting and crying.

Once she is done with the drink she places the cup on the floor and reclines back on the medical chair, ending up dozing off.

She is woken up by a known voice coming from beside her. She slowly blinks her eyes open until they land on a very familiar face.

"Sara?" She rasps out.

The other woman looks at her as if she is seeing a ghost, "Is it really you or am I dreaming?"

Ava sniffles before getting up to sit on the bed next to her girlfriend, "It's really me my love," she tells her, tucking a strand of beautiful blonde hair behind her ear. Her left hand reaches out to hold on to Sara's right hand and the Captain instinctively tightens her grip on it, squeezing softly.

"Aves... Oh God... I thought I had lost you..." the blonde says as tears start falling freely from her bright blue eyes, "I saw them kill you right in front of me..." she tells her confused.

Ava's heart breaks at the sight and she pressed the woman's hand against her chest, right above her beating heart.

"I know Sara, but I'm right here. Can you feel me? Can you feel how my heart beats for you?" She asks with a gentle voice to which the smaller blonde nods.

"I can." Sara whispers before pressing their lips together in a gentle kiss and Ava can feel the saltiness of her tears. When they part the Director softly kisses the rest of her tears away, bumping their noses together. The Captain's heart flutters at the tender gesture and the rage she felt hours ago starts to slowly dissipate.

"I was so angry Ava," Sara admits, closing her eyes at the feeling of the woman she loves against her, "When I thought you were gone, I just... This blinding rage took over me and all I saw was red. My mind kept screaming for me to hit someone. The last thing I remember is attacking Rip..."

"Shh... It's okay my love, it's all over now," Ava whispers, cupping the blonde's face before kissing her passionately. Her tongue traces Sara's bottom lip asking for entrance and the Captain grants it, sighing happily at the feeling.

Her hands move to card through Ava's blonde locks while the taller woman's hands grab the hem of Sara's sweater pulling on it. When she tries to take it off of her the Captain's hands stop her, "Wait," she whispers between pants, "Aves... I need to know what happened."

Ava keeps her hands still but doesn't stop kissing her, moving her lips down to her neck, "That doesn't matter right now," she rasps out against the blonde's ear before nipping on her earlobe. She licks it before returning to her neck once again, tracing the skin there with her tongue, "I wanna make you feel good..." she whispers while one of her hands suddenly enters Sara's jeans and she dips her fingers under her underwear, earning a surprised gasp from the freckled woman.

"Aves..." she says, pushing on her shoulders but the woman won't budge. Sara feels herself starting to grow anxious.

"Ava." She uses a firmer voice, applying more pressure on the woman's shoulders. Her whole body uncomfortably shudders when Ava's fingers trace her clit against her will.

"Ava stop!" She raises her voice, grabbing the taller blonde's wrist and yanking it off her pants, "I said stop! What the hell are you doing?!" She asks angrily.

Her girlfriend looks at her with a lost expression in her ocean eyes immediately leaving Sara regretting her tone. She cups her face between her hands and traces the blonde's cheekbones with her thumbs in a soothing manner. The gentle way with which Sara treats and the realization about what she was about to do leave her in tears once again, "Oh God Sara... I'm so sorry..." she sobs softly.

"Hey, it's okay. But this isn't you..." Sara murmurs gently, "I know you would never hurt me intentionally so talk to me beautiful," she adds before pressing a kiss against her forehead, "Whatever it is you know you can talk to me."

Ava slowly nods before asking, "Can we go to your room? I don't be in here anymore," she admits with such vulnerability that Sara has no other way but to say yes.

So they go to the Captain's quarters and once they get there she asks Gideon to lock the doors and to not be interrupted.

She smiles as soon as she hears the sound of the doors locking and moves to sit down on her bed next to Ava, who is already with her back against the headboard. Sara smiles softly at her before grabbing her hand and holding it in hers.

Ava looks down at their joined hands and a small smile can be seen on her face while she plays with Sara's fingers.

"So I'm guessing you want to know what happened during the mission..."

The smaller blonde sighs, "Well I have a pretty good guess already," she purses her lips in thought, "But I feel like it would be good for you to tell me your side of it."

Ava nods at her words, "Yeah I think you're right," she says and silence falls between them.

Sara doesn't push, she knows pressuring her girlfriend to talk leads nowhere. So she gives her time, they have all night.

After some minutes she hears the blonde inhale and exhale deeply and she knows this is it.

"Rip decided that our plan wouldn't work, so he executed his own plan," she says with a shaky voice.

The Captain squeezes the hand inside of hers, encouraging her to keep talking.

"He..." Ava tries to speak but the lump in her throat makes it harder to continue, "Fuck..." she shakes her head when she starts to feel hot tears threatening to spill once again. She takes another deep breath.

"He programmed all that makes me - my personality, memories, feelings and abilities - on another Clone and basically used it as a scapegoat," Ava finally says, "That Clone was killed because of me and I did nothing to stop it," she adds followed by a sob.

"Ava... Come here baby," Sara asks before pulling her into her loving arms. The taller blonde buries her head on her girlfriend's chest, sighing at the familiar feeling of being comforted between the Captain's strong arms.

Sara rubs small circles on Ava's back while her other hand cards softly through her honey blonde hair. She places a few feather light kisses on her head, trying to ease Ava's tremors.

When she feels like her girlfriend is calmer she decides to speak again, "I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say Aves, okay?"

Ava slowly nods, pressing a kiss against the blonde's chest through the fabric of her sweater.

"Wait..." the Director says leaning back from Sara's embrace. She swallows her nerves and looks away from the Captain before asking, "Could you... Could you maybe take off your sweater?"

Sara looks at her apprehensively – taking in account as to what happened minutes ago at the med bay - but she ends up deciding to comply with Ava's request.

"I won't do anything, I promise. I just... I need to feel your skin against mine..." the taller blonde admits shyly and Sara nods at her, "I know Aves, I trust you. Now come here beautiful," she tells her before opening her arms.

A thankful smile appears on Ava's lips as she cuddles against her girlfriend's warm body, pressing her ear right against her heart, "Thank you my love," she whispers against smooth freckled skin.

"You're welcome," Sara whispers, pressing another kiss against her head while she gently scratches the blonde's scalp.

"Now as I was saying, I want you to listen to me very carefully," she repeats and Ava nods, muttering a small '_okay'_.

"What Rip did was not your fault. You had nothing to do with his plan; his reckless actions are his alone."

"But he did it to save me Sara, if it wasn't for me he would never had played with that poor Clone's life."

"Aves... Look at me please," Sara asks while she cradles Ava's face in her hands, "You have got to stop putting yourself on that Clone's place and you have got to stop blaming yourself. Otherwise you are never going to be able to move on from this!"

Ava's eyes are filled with so many conflicted emotions inside that Sara feels her heart clench painfully just by looking at them.

"Ava, you're here in my bed. In the safety of my arms," she says with a firm voice before pressing a longing chaste kiss against her lips.

"That's all that should matter," Sara adds in a whisper.

"I can't..." Ava sniffles, "I can't forget that easily," the blonde tells her with a shake of her head.

"Then don't," the Captain says, "I won't force you to anything Ava, but please promise me we will work on this. Together," she adds, kissing her girlfriend gently on the lips, "Whenever you're feeling conflicted you come to me. Don't dwell on your feelings alone."

The Director quickly nods before pressing her lips against Sara's once more, "I still don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful human being like you by my side."

The smaller blonde chuckles at that, "Well that's easy. You showed up in that damn Time Bureau pantsuit of yours and from that moment on I was whipped," she tells her, earning a light smack on the arm.

"You're such a goober," Ava states while shaking her head, a hint of a smile gracing her lips.

Sara giggles at the nickname, "For you? Always..." she nods before leaning in to steal another kiss from the blonde who ends up smiling into it.

Both women stay up for a little while talking about meaningless things, simply lost in each other's warm embraces.

After a couple of hours they eventually fall asleep, with Sara being the first one to succumb to the tiredness of the day. Ava stays still, face buried on the crook of the blonde's neck. She presses a gentle kiss on the skin there, pulling her girlfriend's body impossibly closer to hers with the help of her left arm that's placed around the smaller blonde's waist.

When she feels like the closeness is enough, she moves her hand and places it on top of Sara's chest, pressing gently on the spot above the Captain's heart.

She tries to take her mind off of everything that happened in the mission, but she can't stop the feeling of guilt that is still taking over her. Whenever she closes her eyes all that she can see are images of other beings like her getting killed. Her eyes start to sting once again and soon enough there are tears falling freely down her cheeks. She tries her best to keep quiet, to not disturb Sara's sleep, but she can't help the tremors that get ahold of her tired frame.

She squeezes her eyes and clenches her jaw harshly, in a futile attempt of holding back her sobs but she finds herself unable to do so.

It's only when she feels a hand squeeze around her own that she snaps out of the horrid images going through her mind. She leans back and catches Sara looking down at her with nothing more than genuine, unrestrained love in her bright blue eyes.

"Sara..." Ava croaks out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," she offers with sad eyes.

The Captain shakes her head and smiles kindly at her, "Don't apologize," Sara tells her, pressing a kiss against her forehead, "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere Aves. You can let it all out..." she whispers against her skin before planting another kiss there.

Ava nods while a new wave of tears start to stain her cheeks. She returns to the safety of Sara's embrace, burring herself once again on the crook of the woman's neck.

She knows that it will take a long time to accept the consequences of what Rip has done in order to save her, but she also knows that she is not alone in the process. She has the wonderful, fierce, beautiful and loyal Sara Lance by her side, as her lover.

And for now, that's enough to keep her going.

**\- THE END -**

* * *

**AN: And this is it! I hope you enjoyed the ride, I sure did enjoy writing! If you would like to read more stuff I mine I have two more works about Avalance. One is a smut one-shot and the other is a College AU :)**

**P.S.: I would love your opinion now that we reached the end of the story so comments or private messages will be appreciated!**


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